RIVERSIDE - Questions remained today about the death of a man who appeared to have inadvertently dug his own grave in the bed of the Santa Ana River.

Two days after the discovery of the man's body in a hand-dug tunnel in the river wash -- a tunnel that collapsed on him -- autopsy results were pending, a deputy coroner said.

Members of Ross Smith's family had been looking for him since July 2, and someone found his body about 7:50 a.m. Friday in the wash near Old Ranch Road and Rubidoux Avenue, according to published reports.

Riverside police Sgt. Mark Rossi said the man apparently dug the hole, which had partly collapsed. Public works employees helped remove the body.

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RIVERSIDE - An autopsy was pending today on the body of a Riverside man found in a hand-dug tunnel that apparently collapsed on him in the bed of the Santa Ana River, a deputy coroner said. Members of Ross Smith's family had been looking for him since July 2, and someone found his

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7:50 a.m. Friday in the wash near Old Ranch Road and Rubidoux Avenue, according to published reports.

Riverside police Sgt. Mark Rossi said the man apparently dug the hole, which had partly collapsed. Public works employees helped remove the body.

The cause of death was unknown, pending the outcome of the post-mortem exam.

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RIVERSIDE - A man's body was found today in a makeshift tunnel along a dry riverbed in Riverside, authorities said.

Riverside police were notified around 7:50 this morning that a person walking in the area of Old Ranch Road and Rubidoux Avenue, near the Santa Ana River bottom, had discovered a deceased man, according to police Sgt. Mark Rossi.

He said the remains were inside a tunnel that the victim had apparently dug, for reasons unknown.

Riverside Public Works personnel aided investigators in removing the body from the location, and an autopsy was pending to determine the cause of death, according to Rossi.

The victim's identity was being withheld pending notification of his next-of-kin.

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