Buck Dalton died as he lived on the streets of Lawrence with his bicycle nearby.

Dalton, 56, whose real name was Ernest C. Dalton, was found dead Sunday in an alley in the 700 block of Massachusetts Street. A business owner found the body about 10:30 a.m. while taking out the trash, Lawrence Police said.

An autopsy performed Monday in Topeka was inconclusive in determining a cause of death. The results of toxicology tests are needed to determine a cause, and that could take several weeks, said Lawrence Police Sgt. Mike Pattrick.

But “nothing at the scene indicated anything suspicious,” Pattrick said. “No foul play is suspected.”

For years, Dalton was a familiar sight riding a bicycle around Lawrence. His body was found with his bike, the police report said. He was homeless.

Dalton became the sixth homeless person found dead in Lawrence in the past few years. He sometimes slept in railroad boxcars. He also was known to live in a shack in a wooded area northeast of the Amtrak railroad tracks.

Others in Lawrence’s homeless community expressed shock when told of Dalton’s death.

“He had a big heart,” said Maza Isthia, also homeless. “He’d help you out every time you needed it. You need a place to stay; he’d let you stay out at his camp.”

The talk among the homeless Monday was that Dalton may have suffered a heart attack.

“He was up there in age, so that makes a difference,” said Gerald Zephier, another homeless person. “He’s good people. God bless him.”

	Buck Dalton’s death is the sixth in more than two years among Lawrence’s poor and homeless. The others:John Lowe, 38, was sleeping in an alley near what then was the Community Mercantile store when a car hit him and dragged his body around the corner to Mississippi and Ninth streets, killing him, on April 28, 2000. A Missouri man was convicted of killing Lowe while driving under the influence of alcohol.Rita Clark, 47, died of exposure Aug. 15, 2000, under the Kansas River Bridge.A decomposed body believed to be that of Debra Jackson, 48, was found July 16, 2001, in a vacant house at 800 Conn. Investigators have never confirmed the identity, nor determined the cause of death.Rachelle Conrad, 37, was found dead Sept. 7, 2001, at Clinton Park. Officials ruled that she died of alcohol poisoning.Aaron Etsitty, 29, was found dead of alcohol poisoning May 2 in Burcham Park.

Isthia wondered about Dalton’s bicycle.

“We’re looking for that bike,” Isthia said. “It was the Buck-mobile. He let all of us ride it sometimes.”

Police will keep the bike for now as part of the death investigation. Eventually it will be turned over to next of kin, Pattrick said.

Dalton was well-known at Acceptance House, a homeless shelter at 407 Maine.

“We were happy to welcome Buck at Acceptance House,” director Sharilyn Wells said. “We hope he finds peace and happiness in the next world.”

Tonight, the Lawrence City Commission will vote on allowing an open shelter for the homeless. Dudley Crow, president of Lawrence Open Shelter Inc., doesn’t know if Dalton’s death will affect that vote.

“I wouldn’t want to speculate on that, and I wouldn’t want to use his death to help our case,” Crow said.

Dewey Dubray said several American Indian friends of Dalton were ready to step forward and be Dalton’s pallbearers.

“Buck wasn’t Indian, but at heart he was,” Dubray said.

Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Oak Hill Cemetery.