Teen finds dead body on way to school in Porterville

A 13-year-old boy walking to school Friday morning discovered a dead body.

Coroner's Office officials have listed 62-year-old Pedro Castillo Ramirez’s death as a suicide, but it is still under investigation, according to Tulare County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Chris Douglass.

Gerarado Moreno says the body, which had a rope around its neck, was laying on a grassy field under a bridge along Orange Avenue near John J. Doyle Elementary School in Porterville.

The deputies’ first call report, however, does not state anything about a rope, according to Douglass.

After Moreno told school officials about the body, a deputy coroner verified Ramirez’s death at 8:25 a.m.

The body was hard to notice, according to Moreno. He said he spotted it after he dropped some change nearby, and started running after he tried to check the body’s pulse only to find the alleged rope.

“It was weird and scary,” Moreno said.

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case.

-- Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.