Illescas-Canar’s family resides in the city’s Hollow section, Bridgeport Police Capt. Kevin Gilleran said in a prepared statement, and had been notified of his death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Illescas-Canar’s family and friends,” Gilleran said.
Medics pronounced Illescas-Canar dead at the scene after police were called to a report of “suspicious activity” Tuesday morning in the area of Clinton and North avenues.
They found the man in a detached garage on a property at the intersection across from Clinton Park. Though they initially described the victim as having “appeared” to be homeless, Gilleran said Thursday he was not “technically” homeless, without elaboration.
Terron Jones, a police spokesman, said further information was not yet available.
“The detective bureau is working very hard investigating and will update once more validated information becomes available,” he said.
An autopsy performed at the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Wednesday that Illescas-Canar’s cause of death was “blunt injuries of the head.”
“The poor guy,” Bridgeport resident Esmie Edman said while waiting for a bus in front of the property Thursday morning. “It’s just so sad.”
She said police had the quarter-acre property, which sits about 1,400 feet from the Fairfield line, taped off Wednesday.
“I’m looking and saying ‘What is going on over there?’” Edman said. “No one knew what happened.”
The two-story stucco house on the property has been boarded up since she moved to the area in 1996, she said.
Even so, Edman noted, “Somebody’s taking care of it.
“You always see the grass cut,” she said. “Somebody’s paying the taxes.”
According to city property records online, the property’s current owner inherited it in 1991 from the estate of his mother. The owner’s address on record is a post office box in Bridgeport and there are no outstanding taxes owed, according to the tax collector’s website.
Though vacant houses are not a rarity in Bridgeport, the property’s location on U.S. Route 1 is relatively well-traversed, and sits a stone’s throw from two busy apartment buildings.
Neighbors said they didn’t recall seeing anyone in or around the garage on the property before.
Jones said there have been a handful of calls for service to the location, most recently a motor vehicle accident in December.
There were also shot spotter activations reported there in March 2022, November 2021, and November 2019, Jones said, but “nothing (was) found at any of the shot spotter activations.”
Anyone with information can contact Detective Thomas Harper at 203-581-5239 or call the Bridgeport police tip line at 203-576-TIPS.