Man arrested for allegedly killing father in Rancho Santa Fe

A 71-year-old man was found dead Tuesday afternoon, May 30, by his wife, in Rancho Santa Fe, a sheriff’s official said. The dead man has been identified as the homeowner and resident Leighton Dorey, III, according to a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department press release.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has completed the autopsy in this investigation. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck and torso as well as strangulation. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Deputies went to the home on La Brisa near Calle Dos Lagos about noon after getting a 911 call from a woman who came home from running errands and found her husband mortally wounded, said sheriff’s homicide Lt. Kenn Nelson.

According to the press release, during the investigation overnight, homicide detectives identified Dorey’s adult son, Leighton Dorey IV, 39, as the suspect in his death. With the assistance of the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force, Dorey IV and his vehicle were tracked to the community of Idyllwild in Riverside County.

Dorey IV was located early this morning in a heavily forested area near the town and arrested without incident by task force members. Dorey IV was transported back to San Diego County and will be booked into the Vista Detention Facility on a single count of murder, the press release said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Detail at (858) 974- 2321, after hours at (858) 565-5200. You can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

-- San Diego Union-Tribune writer Karen Kucher contributed to this report.