A body stuffed in a barrel was discovered Monday on Malibu Beach, a swanky Californian hotspot beloved by the rich and famous, police said.
Reports said the man's corpse was crammed into a 55-gallon drum when it was discovered by maintenance workers.
Homicide detectives from Los Angeles County Sheriff were working the case, the department said. It did not reveal the dead man's identity or his cause of death.
Broadcaster ABC7 said the barrel had originally been spotted bobbing in the water at Malibu Lagoon State Beach by sanitation workers on Sunday evening.
Aerial footage from local broadcaster KTLA showed the closed barrel resting upright in shallow water close to Malibu Pier.
Malibu, which sits on idyllic coastline less than an hour from Los Angeles, is home to celebrities including Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and "Friends" actress Courteney Cox.
Barrels are understood to be a favored disposal method for mobsters who want to get rid of a corpse.
Last year the receding waters of Lake Mead revealed the skeletal remains of a murder victim whose body had been stuffed into a drum, in what Mafia watchers said was probably the work of mobsters in nearby Las Vegas.
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