Denver – Police are investigating after discovering the remains of a man in two suitcases near the Sanderson Gulch Trail in Denver’s Mar Lee neighborhood.
Denver received 7 letters from people who live nearby about the bags being discovered and were asking the police for more information. Denver Police Department Major Crimes Lieutenant Matt Clark discussed the case at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Press conference: An investigation is underway after the remains of a man were found in suitcases near a driveway in Denver
The administration confirmed that the officers were summoned to 1700 blocks of South Java Road Tuesday morning, based on reports of suspicious bags beside the road and finding human remains inside.
Clark said the medical examiner’s office confirmed the remains belonged to an adult white man on Wednesday. He said that it appeared that the man had “passed away recently,” although the time of his death would be determined by the Office of Operations Management.
A Denver Parks and Recreation employee that Denver7 spoke with earlier on Wednesday said a department employee found the bags at around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday while clearing snow from the Sanderson Gulch Trail.
The neighbors also said that the investigators who spoke to them told them that there were human remains inside the bags. One of the neighbors, Candy Romero, said that the police moved from house to door in the area to ask if the neighbors saw anything or had any surveillance video.
Clark confirmed Wednesday afternoon that police are working on obtaining private surveillance video from neighboring homes.
A neighbor, who spoke with Denver 7 on condition of anonymity, said she asked an officer who came to her door if the victim was male or female.
The woman said, “He mentioned that it is very difficult to know when to wrap the body parts, but the foot looks the same whether it is male or female, so he could not tell me.”
Lieutenant Clark said the police are investigating the case as murder, but added that the Office of Operations Management (OME) will decide whether the man’s death was a murder and the cause of his death.
Police have not yet identified any missing cases in Denver that could be linked to the man’s body, but Clark said that the investigation is still in its early stage and will expand in the coming days. He said the press conference this afternoon will bring more leads into the case.
Clark said DPD crime lab detectives are also working to obtain any physical evidence of the scene, bags, or remains.
