Dead body found in back of man’s car at Montara State Beach

Sheriff’s deputies discovered a dead body in the back of a car parked at Montara State Beach, when they stopped to a question a man sitting in the front seat, reports the Chronicle.

San Mateo County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith O’Dell approached the lone vehicle just after 11 p.m. Saturday evening after he saw it parked in a small turnout area near Montara State Beach, just south of Devil’s Slide.

O’Dell walked toward the driver’s side to talk to the driver. When the sheriff’s deputy looked into the back seat he saw, "an arm protruding from underneath some coverings in the back seat" according to a sheriff’s press release.

The names of the victim and the suspect have not been released, and there is evidence the crime took place in another county.

UPDATE: The body has been identified as John Alfred Pierre Dennis Jr., 59, a faculty member at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga and City College of San Francisco. Dennis was shot to death. Police believe he was killed in is home on Hansom Drive in the Oakland hills. Police arrested Troy Thomas, 43, of Oakland as a suspect in the killing.