Sheriff: Body found under Highway 101 bridge in Mendocino County
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after two people who stopped to stretch their legs during a road trip on Monday afternoon reported finding a decomposing body below a raised section of Highway 101, authorities said.
The body was below the Highway 101 bridge over Outlet Creek, near the intersection with Underpass Road. The site was about 1.5 miles south of the intersection of Highways 101 and 162, between Willits and Laytonville, said Capt. Greg Van Patten, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.
“We can’t say at this point whether it was a homicide, suicide, accidental death or natural death,“ Van Patten said Tuesday.
The body was found on the ground and appeared to have been there for two to three months, Van Patten said. He said there was evidence of a homeless camp at the site.
Investigators couldn’t definitively say whether the body was a man or woman, but they guessed it was a man based on clothing and shoe size, Van Patten said.
A forensic examination was planned to determine the cause of death and investigators were working to identify the body.
“We’re actively going through all the recent missing persons reports to see if there’s any commonality between clothing or what physical description we can get from the body at this point,“ Van Patten said.
You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.
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