Lake Elsinore Murder Under Investigation, Police Say

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — A Lake Elsinore man is dead after apparently being attacked at a local residence while he was working, and now murder investigators are searching for whomever killed him, the sheriff's department announced Wednesday.

The man, who was identified as 53-year-old Juan De Leon Lopez, was hired to do property maintenance at a home in the 16000 block of Holborow Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, according to sheriff's Sgt. Wallace Clear.

At some point during the course of the day, the man suffered "visible head trauma" and the other man who was working with De Leon Lopez took off, according to Clear. Paramedics were called to the scene, but De Leon Lopez died at the property.

Details surrounding what may have happened to him were not released, however police did say they are handling the case as a homicide.

"Based on the circumstances, investigators from the Lake Elsinore Station and the Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit responded to the scene and assumed the investigation which is still on-going," Clear said in a news release.

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call Central Homicide Investigator Trudeau at (951) 955-2777, or Lake Elsinore Station Investigator Cardinale at (951) 245-3300.

— Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone