The body of a man possibly suspected of a homicide in Mariposa County was found Sunday just after noon along a trail near Lake Natoma following a three-hour manhunt.

The man’s cause of death and identity were not immediately released.

Sgt. Jason Browning, of the Folsom Police Department, said State Park rangers were notified by employees of Sudwerk Riverside Restaurant around 9 a.m. of an unattended white Ford Ranger in the parking lot.

A license plate check revealed that the truck was a suspect vehicle in a Mariposa County homicide.

“Suspecting that the driver of the truck could be armed, the recreation area (Negro Bar) was cleared,” Browning said.

California State Parks rangers, Folsom Police officers and deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department began a full-scale search for the suspect, a white male approximately 21 years old.

SWAT and canine officers were called in to assist with the search.

Just after noon, the man was found in an “off trail wild land area.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The command center, set up in the Sudwerk’s parking lot, got the attention of several passersby in the area.

Lisa Thompson, of Folsom, was on her way to the grocery store when she stopped to see what the commotion was all about.

“It’s not every day you see SWAT and all the media out here,” she said. “ I thought it was a drowning. To hear it was a murder suspect is concerning.”

She said she was relieved to hear the suspect was no longer on the run.

Scott Pill, of Fair Oaks was riding his bike along the Negro Bar trails when he and other bicyclists were stopped by officials.

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