The Willow Glen Resident

Police name man found in the creek

Pedestrian spotted the shooting victim

By Cecily Barnes

More than just tree branches and debris floated down the Los Gatos Creek into Willow Glen this stormy weekend. On Saturday, Feb. 7, the body of Eric Nelson Lund was discovered floating in the murky waters at the corner of Lincoln and Coe avenues.

The Santa Clara County Coroner's report showed Lund did not die from drowning: he had been shot in the head and likely dumped in the river.

"The investigators are trying to find out what the circumstances were right before he entered the water," said San Jose Police Sgt. Chris Moore. "It's being treated as a homicide [for now]."

A Sunnyvale man was walking down Lincoln Avenue at about 3 p.m. Saturday when he spotted Lund's body entangled in debris in the heavily flowing creek. Lund wore a blue jacket, blue jeans and brown boots. The pedestrian phoned 911 from a nearby pay phone, and San Jose police officers and firefighters soon arrived on the scene.

With nearly 100 spectators looking on, authorities sealed off the area and spent four hours working to fish the body out of the creek, said Capt. John Castro of the San Jose Fire Department. San Jose Search and Rescue workers established a cross-creek pulley system for the boat used to retrieve the body.

"The water was going pretty good, so the fire department established safety lines in case one of the guys trying to retrieve the body fell out [of the boat]," Castro said. "It was very apparent he wasn't a transient. He had a decent pair of shoes on, keys in his pocket and some change."

Lund is described as white, in his mid-50s, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 200 pounds, with medium-length salt-and-pepper hair, a gray mustache and a tattoo on his upper arm. His last known address was in Los Gatos. Anyone with information is asked to contact San Jose police at 277-5283.

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