Man found in the trunk of a car in Stanton is identified as Irvine resident

The man who was found dead in the trunk of a car in Stanton was identified Saturday as a 31-year-old Irvine resident.

It also was announced that the car was registered under the victim’s name, Jeffrey Cheng.

Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department found Cheng’s body on Friday morning inside the trunk of his car, a gray Lexus sedan, parked along Leafwood Street near Briarwood Street. A passerby had phoned authorities around 10 a.m. reporting the suspicious vehicle, which had its driver’s-side window smashed. Shattered glass and blood lay on the floor beside the car.

Cheng’s death is being investigated as a homicide.

The sheriff’s department is releasing very little information about the case, as homicide detectives are working to pin down a possible suspect, said Carrie Bruan, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department.

She said detectives are looking at how Cheng died and whether he died in Stanton or another location.