SOUTH OGDEN, Utah Jan. 13, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Police say there’s nothing suspicious about a dead body by the side of the road here Friday except it’s been there for months.
The deceased male was found within 20 feet of a busy section of Washington Blvd. at 4800 South just after 3 p.m., South Ogden Police Detective Bryan Hough said.
The area is near Bonneville High School and the Ogden Golf and Country Club, he said, but is a section of the boulevard with no sidewalk on the east side of the road which is also a designated highway, US 89. That stretch of land draws few pedestrians alongside high volume motor traffic. The body was obscured by natural vegetation including sagebrush near an open field and a hillside.
“I can’t care to guess how many thousands of cars have driven by him in a day and never saw him,” Hough said. “I’ve driven by him two times a day for months.”
The body was in an advanced state of decomposition with no obvious trauma, he said, and an autopsy expected soon should determine the cause of death.
“There’s nothing to indicate anything suspicious at this point.”
Identification found on the body has not yet matched up with any missing persons reports, Hough said.
The ID found indicates a man in his mid-40s but isn’t confirmed, while items in a backpack are still being checked. “We’re still trying to verify next of kin.”
“Mind-boggling,” Hough said of the circumstances of the deceased who may have died as far back as September. “And very sad.”
