A lot of questions surround death in car parked at River Village

A lone gray Dodge Charger was parked on the north end of the River Village parking lot and facing Mission Road, at 7 a.m. Friday, May 27, on an overcast morning. Its dark windows shrouded any view inside the vehicle from the road.

That morning a River Village security guard noticed the vehicle and checked on it. When he peered inside he saw a solo unresponsive man, and immediately called the San Diego County Sheriff's 911. Dispatch sent a team from North County Fire Protection District and Fallbrook Deputy Sheriffs to the scene.

Sheriff Deputies responded first to the scene to secure the area for firefighters. Then NCFPD arrived and performed an initial check of the victim, and immediately turned the scene over to the Sheriffs. Deputies taped off the area, started investigating and called in the Medical Examiner. The ME was on scene, examining the victim and everything in his car.

"A Marine assigned to Marine Corps Installations – West, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, was confirmed deceased in Fallbrook, (Calif.) May 27, 2022," said Camp Pendleton Public Information Officer Lt.Taylor Schrick.

"Our continued thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of our Marine during this difficult time," Schrick said.

The cause of death is under investigation and the name is being withheld until 24-hours after next-of-kin notification, according to Schrick.

Observations showed the victim was probably in his 40s, dark brown skin, 5'10" to 6'. He was wearing full fatigues. A preliminary background confirmed this. Cause of death is yet to be announced, but observations yielded such. The big question remains "Why?"

We will update this story as it progresses.