Crime & Safety

Update: Watsonville Man Found Hanging From Bridge

Monterey County sheriff's investigators still have to sort out what happened.

A Watsonville man was found hanging from a railroad bridge over the Pajaro River on Friday morning, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office reported.

The man, identified as 54-year-old Francisco Javier Flores Mendoza, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Montrey County Sheriff's Office.

Few details about the grisly death were available.

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"The call came out as a person hanging from the railroad bridge," Cmdr. Lisa Nash said.

It happened on the Walker Street train trestle operated by Union Pacific. Deputies have not said if it was a homicide or a suicide. 

Find out what's happening in Watsonvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's way too soon," Nash said. "It's under investigation."

The Register Pajaronian newspaper reported that Watsonville police Sgt. Eric Taylor said a group of students in the were bicycling across the bridge just before 10 a.m. when they discovered the man's body.

The Pajaro River is the Santa Cruz-Monterey county line. Monterey County authorities are handling the investigation because the man's body was on their side of the river. An autoosy is scheduled for Monday, according to Nash.


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