4:30pm Halloween Body on Camelback

[joebartels]

Since I don't watch TV I'm always the last to find out about these things in casual conversation. How does a "badly" decomposed body get found on a popular trail? Placed...

[Alston_Neal]

Is that the one where the person commited suicide?

[joebartels]

presumed

[trekkin_gecko]

here's the text from the republic:

A body was discovered on Sunday in Echo Canyon on Camelback Mountain, forcing the closure of the park on Monday.

The body, believed to be male, was discovered at 4:30 p.m. Sunday by a hiker in the canyon. Police suspect it is a suicide, according to Sgt. Trent Crump of Phoenix police.

When officers arrived on the scene it was too dark for them to retrieve the body, Crump said. Authorities returned Monday morning to use a helicopter to lift the body out of the area.

Authorities expect the park to reopen after midday.


can't find any follow up

[joebartels]

Phoenix Police Sgt. Steve Martos said a hiker at Echo Canyon came across the body along the trail around 4:30 p.m.

Regardless of how the death occurred this couldn't possibly get to a "badly" decomposed state without being noticed in a high traffic area. Think the body and gun were placed?

[trekkin_gecko]

where are you getting that quote?

found it on the abc15 website:

PHOENIX - A death investigation is underway after a body was found Sunday afternoon on Camelback Mountain in Phoenix.

Phoenix Police Sgt. Steve Martos said a hiker at Echo Canyon came across the body along the trail around 4:30 p.m.

The hiker called police and officers climbed up to the scene to verify there was a deceased person on the mountain.

Detectives responded, but it became too dark for them to climb to the spot at night, according to Martos.

Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said detectives returned back to the scene Monday morning and waited for an airlift to the site of the found body.

Crump said it appears to be an adult male who has been dead for some time.

There are indications this was a suicide, according to Crump.

Investigators were expected to be out at the scene most of the morning and the park area was closed to all activity.

The Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death.

[chumley]

I'm guessing a very loose definition of "along the trail"

[juliachaos]

Maybe it was more in the Bobby's Rock area? Or, the EC trail gets kinda iffy nearer the top.. maybe a hiker wandered off-trail a short way and then discovered the body there. Or maybe Joe's right and it was placed. I was just up there a couple days before the body was found, and never smelled/saw anything. You'd think something badly decomposed would have stunk at least a little..?

[The_Eagle]

If you were going to place a body, wouldn't it have been a bit difficult to hike up there with a mans body on your back?

The hiker called police and officers climbed up to the scene to verify there was a deceased person on the mountain.

[juliachaos]

@coanbru
depends on how decomposed it was I guess =P and if you have accomplices.

[joebartels]

Someone mentioned to me it was sitting "up"

Perhaps we haven't heard anything cause they're looking for the pranksters that dug up the corpse and placed it

[PaleoRob]

And what sort of message does it send vs. in front of some building?

[sneakySASQUATCH]

"Crump said. Authorities returned Monday morning to use a helicopter to lift the body out of the area."
Sounds like job security to me.

[JimmyLyding]

The corpse may have sat up due to rigor mortis or perhaps it was sitting against a rock at the time of death?

[joebartels]

How many weeks/months in a "badly"?

If it was anywhere remotely near a trail the five hundred hikers daily and would have landed a whiff

The longest distance from houses on the South to houses on the North anywhere from the peak to the west is only 0.63mi.

[Hiker Girl]

Keep in mind the recent weather conditions: ie moisture on the mountain, rain, cold nights, hot days, direct sunlight and less daytime light. All of these conditions can kick decomp into overdrive. A body could easily "badly" decompose in a matter of 3 days in Arizona.

[juliachaos]

Rigor mortis usually disappears after 48 hours, possibly more quickly due to the heat. If a badly-decomposed body wasn't still leaning against something at and after time of death, and it is sitting up/propped up on its own, that's suspect.

Decomposition will begin to show about a week after death, but its process is greatly affected by temperatures and medium. Heat is going to accelerate the rate of decomposition. Assuming the body wasn't buried or in any water, the open air will also help the body decompose more quickly.

[joebartels]

hmm I guess 3 days to a week a hundred yards off the trail might be possible
Still seems odd giving the time it was found and that we haven't heard about it since

[Dave1]

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valley ... ack_mo.php

A hiker found a dead body on Camelback Mountain on Sunday, which is where it remained until this morning -- even though police were called to the scene yesterday afternoon.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman Trent Crump tells New Times the body was left on the mountain overnight because it became too dark for detectives to safely make the climb last night.

Crump says the hiker found the body near Echo Canyon about 4:30 p.m. yesterday. A detective hiked up the mountain to get a look for himself and determined it was too dangerous to continue investigating the scene in the dark and left the body on the mountain until helicopters could help detectives remove it this morning.

The body, Crump says, was already badly decomposed by the time it was found. So, a few more hours on the side of the mountain probably wasn't going to change much, forensically speaking.

Either way, we got word of the discovery last night, and knowing a dead body was just sitting on the side of Camelback Mountain as we handed out candy to trick-or-treaters made Halloween slightly more eerie.

Crump says it initially appears to be a suicide and all that police know about the victim is that it is an adult male.

Crump says a weapon was found near the body but says detectives haven't told him what type of weapon it was.

[joebartels]

yeah that's from Nov 1st
seems if there were no suspicions they'd confirm it suicide already