SAN YSIDROSAN YSIDRO — A man found floating in the Tijuana River Channel last month — determined to be the victim of homicide — was identified as a 36-year-old resident of Mexico, San Diego police said Wednesday.
U.S. Border Patrol agents called police after spotting a possible body about 5:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in the water along Dairy Mart Road and Clearwater Way, homicide Lt. Steve Shebloski said. At the time, rain had flooded the area.
Due to poor lighting, the swiftly flowing river and debris, a brief search was called off until the next morning when police, with assistance from a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter, located two dead men, Shebloski said.
One of the men, identified Wednesday as Rodolfo Agosto Castillo-Ancona, had suffered trauma to his upper body that led detectives to determine he had been killed, Shebloski said. Detectives know how Castillo-Ancona died but are not releasing that information.
The other man had suffered no obvious traumatic injuries. His name was withheld pending notification of family and further examination by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Shebloski said it’s unclear if the deaths of the two men were related. Their bodies may have ended up in the same area, which was choked with debris, due to heavy rains and a strong current.
Anyone with information about the deaths was asked to call the department’s Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477.
