Police have identified the man who was found dead in a muddy Pitt Meadows field this week as 26-year-old Brandon Howson and say the homicide appears to have been targeted.

A passerby discovered Howson's body lying face down in a rural area along 224th Street near 114th Avenue Tuesday morning.

The dead Maple Ridge man was known to police, but investigators say that it is too early to speculate on a motive for the slaying or any connection to gangs.