UPDATE:
Police are investigating the death of a woman found inside a Newport Beach hotel room after they arrested the room’s occupant for possessing and selling narcotics, but the Orange County Coroner’s Office said today the case did not appear to be homicide.
Police arrested Stephen Royds, 46, of Newport Beach Thursday night for allegedly selling narcotics. When officers searched Royds’ room in the Fairmont Newport Beach at 4500 MacArthur Blvd., they found narcotics and the woman’s fully clothed “well preserved” body in a container filled with dry ice, police said.
A toxicology report is pending.
Police have not been able to identify the woman and officials are investigating whether Royds was involved in her death. Royds has been booked at Orange County Jail and his bail has been set at $30,000.
Anyone with information about the death is urged to call Newport Beach police at (800) 550-6273.
JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.
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