Authorities investigate death near Highway 101 in Newbury Park today

Authorities are looking into a death that was reported late Friday afternoon in Newbury Park, close to Highway 101.

Firefighters and law enforcement officers were called to a location along the southbound motorway close to Ventu Park Road at approximately 4:40 p.m. after the occurrence, which was recorded as a medical emergency. Nearby woodland areas along the highway shoulder are sliced through by surface streets and freeway ramps.

When Ventura County firemen first arrived on the site, they reported seeing a person who might have been dead and asked for sheriff’s deputies.

A man’s body was found at the site, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Ken Truitt. Initial reports indicate the individual may have been homeless, he said. The man may have been dead for some time. The sheriff’s agency is contracted to provide police services in Thousand Oaks, including Newbury Park.

.There was no sign of violence at the scene, Truitt said, but the unusual location merited extra attention.

“Just the fact it was on the side of the road makes it a little more suspicious,” he said.

Investigation of the fatality ultimately fell to the jurisdiction of the California Highway Patrol, Truitt said, because of the body’s proximity to the freeway

CHP officials later said on social media the man was 37. He was found near the southbound onramp from Ventu Park Road. The cause of death was unknown as of early Saturday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the CHP’s Moorpark-area office at 805-553-0800.