Northbound motorists spotted a man’s body just beyond the freeway fence of Highway 99 as they were approaching the transition ramp to the westbound Highway 120 Bypass at 9 a.m. Sunday.

The man had reportedly shot himself with a handgun in an apparent suicide after leaving his vehicle.  Sunday afternoon Facebook posts indicated that he was either a Ripon or Manteca resident.  A Manteca ambulance unit was first on the scene and turned away responding fire department units, saying there was nothing they could do.

The incident took place near a freshly planted cornfield on a farm where motorists told of seeing four to five Sheriff’s cars and yellow crime scene tape.  The man could be seen from the freeway, witnesses said.