Second homicide reported in Merced in 24 hours. Police seeking public’s help

The Merced Police Department is investigating a possible homicide reported Friday night in the 4300 block of Bixby Way, near Bancroft Drive in Merced.

Police showed up at the residence at 6:15 p.m. to make a welfare check after an employer informed the police that the victim didn’t show up for work that day.

Upon arriving at the home, police discovered signs of forced entry and found a 50-year old white male deceased in one of the bedrooms with “obvious signs of trauma to the body,” according to Lt. Jay Struble.

“At this time, we’re considering it a homicide investigation,” Struble said.

This is the second homicide in Merced reported in the past 24 hours and the fifth in 2019.

No arrests have been made. A motive for the possible homicide remained unknown Friday.

According to Struble, it wasn’t immediately clear whether anything had been stolen. The victim’s vehicle was not at the residence, but it was found in Merced early this morning. The vehicle looked like it had been abandoned, according to Struble.

Struble said it does not appear that Friday night’s homicide was connected to the home invasion and homicide that took place in South Merced on Friday morning.

According to Struble, the police have already canvassed a four-block radius, searching for possible surveillance video footage. Police are asking anybody in the area if they have any information on this crime to contact the Merced Police Department.

“Check your Ring Doorbells if you have them,” Struble said. “Also any type of surveillance video cameras that you have that cover any of this area out here. Not necessarily right here — in front of the residence — because obviously somebody came here, and somebody left here, and any type of vehicle we could locate that may possibly not from the area on video surveillance would be a lead we could follow up on.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 12:35 AM.