Oceanside’s Eleazar Roman Cruz was killed by a single gunshot wound to the upper chest, according to a San Benito County Sheriff’s Office official.
The body of Eleazar Roman Cruz, 29, was found near a road in Panoche Valley on Aug. 6 with what looked like multiple gunshot wounds.
But Capt. Eric Taylor, operations commander for the sheriff’s office, which acts as county coroner, confirmed an autopsy showed Cruz died of a single gunshot wound to the upper chest.
“It was a through and through wound that presented as multiple shots but was confirmed to be one small caliber bullet,” Taylor wrote in an email replying to the Free Lance request for updates in the case.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to Panoche Valley at 1 p.m. Aug. 6 and found the body of a Hispanic male in his mid-20s. At the time, authorities reported it appeared the man had been shot multiple times and was dropped about 10 feet off the road in the 6800 block of Panoche Road, an area surrounded by ranches and open spaces.
Authorities have said they believed the man had been shot with a firearm and left on the side of a road. There was evidence showing the someone may have recently killed him elsewhere and left the body in the Panoche area, a rural part of southeastern San Benito County, Taylor has said.
Anybody with information about the case is urged to call the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office at (831) 636-4080.
