FRESNO (KMJ) — A 25 year old man has been found dead on Fresno State farm property, in what Fresno State police describe as a tragic accident. The victim has been identified as Joel Talbot – he’s originally from Ripon, and currently living in Fresno.
Joggers discovered the body of at around 6am Wednesday morning, which was on one of the tracks running between the university’s farm grounds. The field itself was north of Bullard Avenue, between Cedar and Willow. Police think he was killed after crashing his motorcycle into a large metal stand pipe.
“Looks like he was going eastbound on the access road”, says Fresno Police Lieutenant Joe Gomez. “[He] hit a large metal standpipe – head on. Unknown if he died immediately or how long he was out here. We don’t know at this time when he was out here riding the motorcycle, only that he was found here at 6am by joggers”.
Fresno State Police are currently working on the timeline of what happened.
“Collision reconstruction unit from the Police Department still have to finish their business and their investigation”, says Chief David Huerta. “Then of course we have to co-ordinate with the coroners office, and then we’d really like to communicate to the family as soon as possible”.
Initial investigations point towards the cause of death being impact related.
Fresno State add that Talbot was a senior majoring in crop science production management in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. He was a graduate of Ripon High School north of Modesto, and was most recently a student employee of the Fresno State farm’s orchard enterprise since September,
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
