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Body of Singer Cuba Gooding Sr. Found In Woodland Hills Car

WOODLAND HILLS (CBSLA.com) – A death investigation is underway after the body of 72-year-old singer Cuba Gooding Sr. was discovered in his car Thursday afternoon in Woodland Hills.

Gooding's body was found in his Jaguar before 1:10 p.m. in the 22100 block of Ventura Boulevard after witnesses called 911 to report a man they thought was passed out in the driver's seat of a Jaguar, Los Angeles police confirmed.

According to the Los Angeles County coroner's office, Gooding was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene. Drug paraphernalia and cans and bottles of beer and liquor were in the car.

There were no obvious signs of trauma, the coroner's office said. The cause of death is under investigation.

"Appears to be either natural or an accident," Ed Winter with the coroner's office said. "He could have suffered a heart attack or whatever, and we won't know until a full autopsy is done and we get all the results."

Winter said Gooding parked his car on Ventura at around 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

"He was seen alive by a citizen around 10:30," Winter said.

Cuba Gooding Sr. is the father of Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. He was part of the 1970s Grammy-nominated soul group "The Main Ingredient." Their most famous song was the hit "Everybody Plays the Fool."

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