UPDATE: Police identify victim, disclose cause of death

Greg Fuqua starts his shift at a Northeast Portland Chevron station at 6 a.m., and could always count on the homeless man to show up an hour later to cash in his bottles and cans, "like clockwork."

He and his coworkers would look forward to the man's arrival at 7 a.m. sharp. "He's great, he makes everyone laugh," Fuqua said.

The man, a well-known transient in the neighborhood, would joke with the cashier and buy the same Sparks blackberry-flavored beer. They had their own nickname for the man, he said, and shared inside jokes with him.

But on Thursday, 7 a.m. came and went without any sign of the man. As minutes passed into hours, Fuqua and his coworkers began to wonder where the man might be, and he decided it was time to find out.

Fuqua found the man lying in the parking lot of St. Rita's Catholic Church, mere feet from the gas station. At first, he thought the man was sleeping.

"I didn't think anything of it," Fuqua said.

But as he got closer, Fuqua said, he saw there was blood pooled at his feet. He touched him, but it was already too late: the man was "stiff and cold."

"He's just like family," Fuqua said, tearing up. "He's going to be missed."

Fuqua called police, who arrived at 9:43 a.m. Investigators confirmed they had found the body of a 45-year-old man but could not release any other identifying information, pending the notification of family. They have not released any information about the cause of death, other than to say it is considered suspicious.

Homicide detectives remained at the scene Thursday afternoon, collecting evidence. Half of the parking lot was cordoned off with police tape. Part of the sidewalk was blocked by police, and pedestrians walked around it, craning their necks in the street as they passed to see what was going on.

Police said they haven't made any arrests in the case and that a person who was detained has since been released. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy Friday to determine how the man died, police said, and the case remains under investigation.

St. Rita's staff said the church opened at 8:30 a.m. but could not provide any other information about the man's death. It is unclear at this time when the man died or how long his body was there before Fuqua found him.

"This is a loss," Fuqua said. "He was a great person."

-- Francesca Fontana