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# Man found dead on beach
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/man-found-dead-on-beach/
- Published: 2003-08-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:47:20.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Environment, Pier, #archive-import

*Coroner hit during transport*

The body of a middle-aged man was found washed ashore on Santa Monica Beach early Monday and police are determining whether foul play was involved.

Shortly before 5 a.m., a passerby noticed a body lying on the shoreline a few hundred feet north of the Santa Monica Pier. The man appeared to be in his 40s or 50s, wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts.

Santa Monica Police investigators and forensic officers were on scene most of Monday morning, gathering evidence. Police sealed off a large section of the beach while curious passerby inquired about the scene.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office arrived at about 8:30 a.m. to transport the body to the morgue for an autopsy. But as the coroner’s van carrying the body made a right turn out of the beach parking lot, it was hit by an oncoming vehicle that was traveling south on the Pacific Coast Highway.

The woman driving the coroner van was taken to a nearby hospital for a neck injury. The woman driving the Infinti SUV appeared to be uninjured, but shocked that the van pulled out in front of her onto the busy highway.

“I was startled that she pulled out because I was right there,” the unidentified driver said, adding she had slowed down anticipating the upcoming traffic signal on Ocean Avenue.

Both vehicles had significant damage to the front ends.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081903-05_01.jpg)

(Above) Police and emergency personnel respond to an accident Monday on the Pacific Coast Highway that involved a coroner’s van. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081903-05_02.jpg)

(Above) Police and emergency personnel respond to an accident Monday on the Pacific Coast Highway that involved a coroner’s van. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 19, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081903.pdf?ref=smdp.com)