SAN CLEMENTE – Marine Corps officials have identified the Camp Pendleton Marine found shot to death Thursday morning as a resident of El Dorado.

Private First Class Stephen C. Serrano, 20, was a field radio operator attached to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, officials said Friday.

Serrano joined the Marine Corps a year ago in March. He had not been deployed to Iraq. He was married and lived on base at Camp Pendleton.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the shooting.

Serrano's body was found face down in a drainage ditch on a hillside about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, The Associated Press reported. Serrano had been shot in the chest and left in the ditch probably less than 24 hours earlier, authorities said.

A sheriff's spokesman said Serrano was wearing desert fatigues and boots. His cap was found about 15 feet away. The spokesman said investigators have ruled out robbery as a motive. They believe Serrano was killed at the site.

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