Deputies identify Escalon homicide victim

ESCALON -- The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department Thursday identified the woman whose body was found near Escalon on Tuesday as Lynette Lena Garza, 23, of Modesto.

Garza’s body was discovered down an embankment off River Road early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The case is being investigated as a homicide. According to Les Garcia, public information officer with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol officers responding to a report of an accident in the 25800 block of River Road at 3:40 a.m. on New Year’s Day found an abandoned vehicle.

While checking the area, they found the woman’s body about 60 feet from the vehicle “with obvious signs of death present due to severe trauma,” Garcia said.

No further information on the investigation was available Thursday.