A deceased landscaper was found by a co-worker near Las Palmas Drive in the Hope Ranch area Tuesday afternoon, officials said Wednesday.

The co-worker had been working in a different area and later went up to the man and found that he had died, Lt. Brian Olmstead of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department told Noozhawk.

The man’s identity is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. The coroner’s office is investigating the death, but Olmstead said there appears to be no suspicious circumstances.

“We don’t suspect foul play at all,” he said.

He said he didn’t know the age of the man, but that he was not elderly.

The Search and Rescue Team was called in to retrieve the body because of the steep incline of the area. The call came into the dispatchers about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, and the 24-hour delay in responding to reporter phone calls comes on a day when detectives assigned to the case and the department’s public information officer are out of the office.

Check back with Noozhawk for updates.

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. — Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com.