Update: Man found dead in canal near Modesto has been identified

A body was found in the irrigation canal near Garst Road and Church Street on Thursday morning, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office announced.

The body was that of a man, who was identified as 60-year-old Modesto resident Genaro Ibarra.

The area where Ibarra’s body was found is among farmland about a mile north of downtown Empire in the unincorporated area of Modesto.

A passerby reported the body at about 7:30 a.m. The Modesto Fire Department helped pull the body from the canal.

The circumstances of Ibarra’s death are being examined by the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office and detectives with the Sheriff’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit.

“The cause and manner of death will be determined after a forensic autopsy,” read a Sheriff’s Office press release. “No further information can be released at this time, as our death investigation is active & ongoing.”

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday, according to the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office.