LA PUENTE — The search continued Sunday for whoever gunned down a 44-year-old father in his own neighborhood early Saturday.

Detectives were left with few clues in the mysterious slaying of Ellis Rachal Jr., who was found just before 4 a.m. Saturday lying on a sidewalk in the 15900 block of Hill Street with a fatal gunshot wound to his chest, officials said.

No description of Rachal’s attacker was known, as no eye-witnesses had been located, Detective D. Retzlaff of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.

“We’re really in need of the public’s assistance,” Retzlaff said, adding that there was no apparent motive for someone to attack Rachal, a father and husband who lived in the same neighborhood where he was killed.

“He was not a gang member,” the detective said. “He was well-liked. He had no real criminal history.”

Though investigators initially said they were looking into the possibility Rachal had been shot elsewhere and dropped off, Retzlaff said Sunday that the shooting took place on Hill Street.

No one called 9-1-1 to report a shooting, officials said, though neighborhood residents later said they heard between three and five gunshots about 3:30 a.m. The slaying was not reported to sheriff’s officials until a passer-by came across his body.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.