MODESTO (CBS13) – The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a man’s body found in a shallow canal in Modesto Tuesday morning.

A passerby spotted the body in the canal near Chicago and Vernon avenues around 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The victim has been identified as Vernon France, 47. The cause of death is still under investigation by detectives. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

Deputies said France’s body appeared to have been in the canal for some time. Dive team members pulled the body out.