CASTRO VALLEY — Operating on an informant's tip, sheriff's homicide detectives are pursuing the first significant lead into the May 5 shooting death of a San Francisco man whose body was dumped along the shoulder of a remote Castro Valley hillside.

Investigators have tied a white 1994 Dodge van to the killing of 27-year-old Lonnie Lee Morris Jr., whose body was discovered by a passer-by on Redwood Road at 1:30 p.m., sheriff's Sgt. Scott Dudek said.

Dudek was among about eight or so sheriff's deputies who spent three hours Thursday morning stopping passing vehicles — mostly bicycles — distributing fliers with a picture depicting the van near where Morris' body was found on Redwood Road's 4.6 mile marker (about halfway between developed Castro Valley and Oakland).

Dudek said a man matching Morris' description was seen entering the van in San Francisco. Dudek has deemed the informant to be a credible witness.

"On a confidence level, we're about 70 percent,'' Dudek said.

Investigators are focusing on Morris' past, especially the last 48 hours of his life. He died of unspecified gunshot wounds, and probably hadn't been dead long when his body was found, Dudek said.

Dudek said investigators haven't established a motive for Morris' killing. He said Morris had a criminal history, but it was not known whether that played a role in his death. He said Morris lived in an unspecified San Francisco housing

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project.

Dudek said the sheriff's department is committed to deploying whatever resources are necessary to solve the crime.

"No matter what his background is, good, bad or indifferent, he was still somebody's kid, he was still somebody's grandson and somebody brutally dumped his body like he was a piece of trash on the side of the road,'' Dudek said.

Morris had a close relationship with his aunt, Helen Morris, who described the victim as a "kind and loving person'' who'd just started to turn his life around from a troubled past. She said Morris had recently enrolled in vocational training. He is survived by a 5-year-old son, a 3-year-old daughter and an expecting girlfriend.

"He was turning his life around for his kids,'' Helen Morris said. "He loved his kids, he was always kind to them.''

Dudek said San Francisco police are involved in the investigation too, primarily looking into Morris' past.

Sheriff's deputies got little useful information from their roadside stops on Thursday but are hopeful their pleas for public help will lead them to Morris' killer.

He said the killer made "no effort whatsoever'' to hide the body, dumping it just a few feet from the two-lane road in broad daylight.

"Maybe (witnesses) saw the white van on the side of the road or they got cut off and didn't realize what was happening,'' Dudek said. "Anything they can tell us about that white van would be huge.''

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call lead detective Mike Godlewski at 510-667-3655, Dudek at 510-667-7478 or the sheriff's anonymous tip line at 510-667-3622.

Gideon Rubin can be reached at 510-293-2469 or grubin@bayareanewsgroup.com.