UPDATED 1:41 p.m. Monday

The Coroner her identified the dead man found outside Coco’s Restaurant on Sand Canyon Road Sunday afternoon as 48-year-old Jerry DeWayne Sherill.

According to Coroner spokesman Craig Harvey, Sherill was a transient.

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Earlier reports that Sherill had been dead for a few days were in error; witnesses told KHTS that they saw and spoke to him earlier Sunday morning. He was found after noon in the bushes outside the restaurant, which is located near the Highway 14 ramps and Soledad Canyon Road.

A friend of Sherill’s, who asked that his name not be used, said that while Sherill’s given name was Jerry, he was known to the locals as Zeke.

“Zeke was a kind man, and though he had very little in life materially, he was rich in friends. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”