Body found in Santa Rosa home prompts police investigation

A badly decomposed body was found inside a central Santa Rosa home earlier this week, prompting the city’s police to investigate the person’s death.

Police located the body just before 1:30 p.m. Monday during a welfare check call to a home on Hendley Street near Wheeler Street in the Burbank Gardens neighborhood of Santa Rosa, city Police Sgt. Chris Mahurin said.

The condition of the body made it difficult for officers to identify the sex or age of the individual, who officers think may have died several weeks ago, Mahurin said.

An autopsy, which will determine the cause and manner of the person’s death, is scheduled later this week. No weapons or drugs, which might indicate how the person died, were found near the body, Mahurin added.

Investigators will treat the case as a criminal investigation until the evidence points to a different conclusion, Mahurin said.

Officers were in the process of determining whether there was a lawful tenant at the property as of Tuesday afternoon, Mahurin said. If not, police will investigate whether anyone had been squatting in the building, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.