Body of Naked Man Found Inside Plastic Barrel on Malibu Beach

Police in Los Angeles have launched an investigation after a man was found dead inside a barrel that washed up on Malibu Lagoon State Beach. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a release that a lifeguard on the popular California beach noticed a 55-gallon plastic barrel floating in the lagoon at around 10:10 a.m. Monday.

When the lifeguard retrieved the barrel drum and opened it, he found a dead, naked Black male inside.

Investigators pronounced the victim dead at the scene and have launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death, added the release.

Lt. Hugo Reynaga with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide bureau said in a press conference per Associated Press that the barrel had been spotted in the lagoon over the weekend prior to the lifeguard opening it. 

He added that a maintenance worker — likely from Malibu Lagoon State Beach — initially saw the black plastic 55-gallon drum floating in the water on Sunday and had gotten it to shore using a kayak. 

However, Reynaga noted that the barrel had been “too heavy and they didn’t want to open it, so they left it on shore,” per the outlet.

Reynaga added that investigators are currently unsure where the barrel had come from. 

“At about 8 p.m., there’s a high tide here and there’s a possibility that the container could have come in from the ocean and then got stuck in the lagoon — but we don’t know,” Reynaga said, per AP.

Police did not give any additional information on the victim including his age or his cause of death, though Reynaga noted that the death may have been recent.

“From what I did see it didn’t look to me like it was decomposed or had been there a long time,” Reynaga said, per AP.

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Following the finding, a section of the beach being used by investigators was closed off, but the rest of the beach remained open Monday afternoon, state parks spokesperson Jorge Moreno told NBC News in an email.

“California State Parks is working closely with the lead investigative entity on the incident,” he added.