A homicide investigation is underway in Malibu.
On Monday morning, a dead man’s body was found stuffed inside a 55-gallon barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, by the looks of it, right around Third Point.
The beach, and iconic surf spot, remain open to the public as of now; just the area where the body was found is closed off by yellow police tape.
Not much information regarding the situation is known currently.
The barrel was first noticed by sanitation workers on Sunday night, but they didn’t think much of it. Once lifeguards arrived to work on Monday morning, however, they attempted to pull the barrel out of the lagoon and discovered how heavy it was.
That’s when the body was discovered.
No information about the victim was immediately available.
“The lagoon has been shut down here,” said a helicopter reporter from ABC7. “LA County Sherriff Deputies are here, they’re going to call homicide detectives now to investigate.
“Malibu Beach is pretty popular. The beach portion is open where they surf. But the lagoon is going to be shut down for some time, as they continue this investigation.”
Former Malibu Mayor Jefferson Wagner, and owner of Zuma Jay’s Surf Shop, told the Los Angeles Times:
“This is not what happens in Malibu. Deeply disturbed. This is not a common occurrence. I mean, bodies in a barrel is just sad.”
From a surfing perspective, Malibu, of course, is known as one of southern California’s premier pointbreaks; it’s known for its rich surfing history; it’s known for being one of the most crowded surf spots on earth, where celebrities mingle with average joes.
It is not known as a dumping zone for dead bodies.
This is a developing story.
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