Corpse identified, death could have been accident

Orange County coroners have identified the body found in the mouth of Santa Ana River last weekend as Marvin Alexander Ceron, 30, of Garden Grove.

Medical examiners found no signs of foul play during the physical autopsy of the body, but have issued more internal and toxicology tests, authorities said. Toxicology tests will show if he had any drugs or alcohol in his system.

How the body got there still eludes investigators, although there is a strong possibility Ceron was out on a late-night swim and got caught in the river’s strong current, authorities said.

Ceron’s body was tattooed and unclothed when a group of local surfers found the body Saturday morning near the river jetties on a sandbar under the West Coast Highway bridge that connects Newport and Huntington Beach.

The full autopsy is pending, medical examiners said.

Authorities believe he may have been dead for some time.

— Kelly Strodl