Overview
- Police found 36-year-old Lorenzo Lopez dead inside a Pathways for Life van after he failed to return home following a morning pickup on Thursday, June 4.
- Multiple reports say Lopez may have been left unattended in the vehicle for hours on a day when temperatures reached about 106 degrees.
- Pathways for Life acknowledged the death, said it is cooperating with investigators, and confirmed that staff members tied to the van have been placed on administrative leave.
- Mesa police, including homicide detectives, and the medical examiner are actively investigating and have not released a cause or manner of death.
- Lopez’s family, who say he relied on the program for about 15 years and could not live independently, has retained attorneys who are probing the case and expect to pursue a wrongful-death lawsuit.