By Lookout Staff

August 28, 2028 -- Police are investigating the death of a man who may have been homeless that took place in Palisades Park early Monday morning.

The man's body was found near the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Broadway and the Broadway stairs, said Lt. Erika Aklufi, the Police Department spokesperson.

The man appears to have been in his 40s and "possibly homeless but with an associated address in Los Angeles," Aklufi said.

"The LA County Coroner has responded and will assist with crucial aspects of the investigation, including positively identifying the victim and the manner of death," she said.

If the deceased was found to have been homeless, he would be part of a trend that has seen a rise in the number of homeless individuals who have died in Santa Monica.

In 2020 and 2021, a total of 54 homeless persons died in the affluent coastal city, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner analyzed by the Lookout ("Two Homeless Persons a Month Die in Santa Monica," May 4, 2022).

Among the homeless individuals who died, 17 overdosed on drugs, while another 13 suffered from heart conditions that led to their deaths. Seven committed suicide. One was a victim of homicide.

Of those who died, 45 were men and nine were women. The youngest was 26, the oldest 71.

Thirty-one of those who died were White, 13 were Black, nine were Hispanic and one was a Pacific Islander.

The deaths reflect a Countywide trend that saw the death toll among the homeless jump from less than 1,300 in 2019 to more than 2,200 in 2021, largely fueled by a dramatic rise in drug overdoses ("Drug Overdoses Drive Dramatic Hike in LA County Homeless Deaths," May 15, 2023).

After a 29 percent increase from 658 homeless deaths in 2014 to 1,289 in 2019, the death toll spiked 55 percent in just two years to 2,201, according to the report from LA County's Department of Public Health (DPH).