Coroner identifies body found in canal south of Modesto
The body of a man found inside a Turlock Irrigation District canal south of Modesto has been identified as a Ceres resident.
A customer at Charlie’s Market, on the corner of Crows Landing and Taylor roads, spotted the body at about 8:40 a.m. on Wednesday, said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Sgt. Josh Clayton.
The Sheriff Department’s Dive Team recovered the man’s body and the Coroner’s Office identified him as 40-year-old Emiliano Maldonado.
Clayton said an autopsy was completed Thursday but investigators are awaiting toxicology results to determine the cause of death.
Maldonado hadn’t been reported missing and it is unknown how long he’d been in the canal.
The incident is being treated as a “death investigation” and handled by the Coroner’s Office, Clayton said.
This story was originally published June 14, 2019 at 3:29 PM.
