Body found at Bella Terra parking structure, the second apparent suicide in a month

Huntington Beach police confirmed Friday that officers Thursday discovered the body of a 51-year-old man near the parking structure of the city’s Bella Terra shopping center — the second incident of possible suicide in less than a month.

Jessica Cuchilla, spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Police Department, said officers were called to the plaza, located at 7777 Edinger Ave., at around 7:30 p.m. and discovered the individual unresponsive.

He was declared dead at the scene, and the Orange County coroner’s office was called to the center’s parking structure. Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Frank Gonzalez confirmed Friday coroner’s officials identified the decedent as a resident of Huntington Beach.

Still under investigation, the incident is not believed to have involved any kind of foul play and did not constitute a threat to the public.

The occurrence and its aftermath did not result in the closure of any store or structure on the 58-acre lot or closure of roadways to vehicle traffic, Cuchilla clarified Friday.

Thursday’s death marks the second time in less than 30 days since a body was discovered near the site’s parking structure. A 52-year-old man from the city of Westminster was found there on the morning of July 31 in an incident later determined to have been a suicide.

Another suicide, reported by local media, is known to have happened on the same parking structure nearly nine years ago, when an employee from the nearby Costco discovered the body of a man near the loading docks of the Burlington Coat Factory store in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2016.

Cuchilla on Friday did not have details on how the decedent was discovered Thursday evening or who may have made the initial call to police.