Coroner: Mysterious deaths were natural

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A Southern California coroner has concluded that a brother and sister found dead in their home months ago died by natural causes.

Autopsy reports said Daniel Savage, 51, was felled by a stroke, while his sister, Jacquelyn, 57, succumbed to heart disease, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

Another sibling found the two bodies on Easter Sunday when she came to the house in Cowan Heights to pick up their elderly father for a family dinner. Investigators say that the older man, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, may have lived in the house with the bodies for as long as two days.

Investigators considered foul play because of the strange condition of Daniel Savage's body. He had black shoe polish on his face and arms and three medium-caliber bullets in the back of his throat as well as leaves, grass and coins on his back.

His sister's face and arms were bruised.