Police: Body found in pipe near Target in Salt Lake
Feb 21, 2020, 12:51 PM | Updated: 4:54 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Salt Lake City Police Department has confirmed a body has been found in a pipe outside of a retail store.
Police say someone flagged them down after seeing what they thought was a body in the pipe just outside of the Target near 1100 South and 300 West. When they investigated, they found an adult male’s body.
Police cannot confirm what the purpose of the pipe is, but it appears to be about 10 feet deep, going straight down and it has a bottom. Also, it’s only about 18 inches in diameter.
“It’s not a very large opening, and that’s suspicious in and of itself,” says Salt Lake Detective Greg Wilking.
Police say they found the body in a decomposed state and couldn’t tell how long it had been in the pipe. However, they believe the remains had been there for a significant amount of time.
“With the elements and where it was located, [the body] was not in very good condition,” Wilking said.
Investigators also couldn’t find any initial clues as to how the man died.
“There are no signs of trauma, but without knowing how the body got here, we can’t rule out foul play. At this point, it’s a real guess as to how this occurred,” Wilking said. “Since the circumstances around this are suspicious, we have to treat as if it’s a homicide, collect evidence and preserve the crime scene.”
The body has been taken to the Medical Examiner’s for identification.