The San Benito Coroner’s Office has released identities of two homeless residents found dead Tuesday afternoon in Hollister.
There are no causes of death yet, but the two residents died on a hot day in Hollister where temperatures hit 92 degrees.
Gilbert Casarez, age 59, was found in the riverbed off Apricot Lane on Hollister’s west side. Scott Reed, age 54, was found at 490 Tres Pinos Road, according to Capt. Eric Taylor with the sheriff/coroner’s office.
Investigators do not believe foul play was involved in either death, authorities have said.
Police and coroner’s officers responded to the first discovery of a body around 2 p.m. in the San Benito River bed near Apricot Lane on the west side of Hollister. They responded to the second body at about 3 p.m. at 490 Tres Pinos Road. That is the address for the Shell gas station near Safeway.
Pershall said police do occasionally respond to the discovery of a transient person’s body, but two in one day is a rarity. He called the situation coincidental.
The deceased person found in the river had been living at a camp in the riverbed area, police said. Camps come and go in the area because code enforcement removes or relocates them, he said.
