A Madonna Inn employee doing routine maintenance around the Inn’s front sign made a gruesome discovery on Tuesday morning: the dead body of a 40ish-year-old man. Two hours after the discovery, San Luis Obispo Police Department spokesman Rob Bryn said the man appeared to be a transient and while there were no outward signs of violence to the body, he was unwilling to speculate on a cause of death.

“The coroner will do the I.D. and determine the cause of death,� he said. “There doesn’t appear to be any foul play, but I don’t want say it was a natural death and when they lift up the body there’s a six-inch knife there.�

Sgt. Rick Newfeld at the coroner’s office agreed that the cause of death was probably natural but said it would take time to confirm that. According to Newfeld, the body was probably several weeks old.