Mel Gibson is in shock after a man was found dead at one of his Los Angeles properties.

The unnamed man, who has been identified as a 48-year-old construction worker, was discovered Wednesday hanging from a rafter in an extension being built at the actor's Agoura Hills property in what appears to be a suicide.

The body was found in the morning by the site foreman, who contacted Los Angeles' Lost Hills Sheriff's Department at around 8am.

Detective Eddie Brown said: "Detectives along with paramedics arrived at the scene and the gentleman was pronounced dead on arrival. Cause of death will be determined by the Los Angeles Coroner's office."

According to police sources, the corpse was in "full-body rigor mortis" when it was found and the hanging could have occurred on Tuesday night.

Gibson was not at the site, where construction has been taking place for some time, when the body was discovered. Gibson and his family are not believed to have ever lived at the property. The house is just a mile away from Gibson's church, The Holy Family Catholic Church, where his daughter was married last year.