San Diego Police: Man found dead behind Mission Valley grocery store

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A 25-year-old man died under suspicious circumstances Thursday behind a Mission Valley grocery store, authorities said.

Officers responding to a report of an unconscious person found the man on the east side of the Food 4 Less in the 7700 block of Hazard Center Drive about 7:30 a.m., according to the San Diego Police Department.

The man, whose name was withheld pending family notification, died at the scene, SDPD Lt. Lou Maggi said.

Based on unspecified "items" found near the man, officers initially believed he had succumbed to a drug overdose, according to police. However, after further examination, officers suspected the man might have been assaulted and alerted homicide detectives "out of an abundance of caution," the lieutenant said.

A ruling on the man's cause of death was on hold pending autopsy results.

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