Body found packed in dry ice at hotel

NEWPORT BEACH, CA– The body of a woman in her 20s or 30s packed in dry ice was found in a hotel room when police served a search warrant in a cocaine investigation, authorities said yesterday.

Detectives found the fully clothed and “well preserved” body late Thursday after arresting a guest at the Fairmont Newport Beach for investigation of selling and possessing cocaine on the hotel grounds, police Sgt. Evan Sailor said. When they searched Stephen David Royds' room, they found the body inside a large plastic container filled with dry ice, he said. “It's definitely weird,” Sailor said. An autopsy of the body was “inconclusive” because there was no sign of trauma and her death did not appear to be a homicide, said an Orange County deputy coroner.