Autopsy on body recovered in Perche Creek to be conducted Tuesday
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Boone County Medical Examiner is set to perform an autopsy Tuesday on a body found in Perche Creek, an MU Health Care spokesman confirmed on Monday.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office recovered the body Sunday night. The body was allegedly found altered suspiciously and in a decomposing state inside a container. The container was found by fishermen in the area after they saw it floating in the water.
Jason West, a City of Columbia Utilities spokesman, confirmed with ABC 17 News on Monday the container was a City of Columbia roll cart. The Solid Waste division is also working with investigators on where the cart was registered.
“Those [roll carts] are registered to a residence, they are not registered to customers, so we are able to look up and see what address that roll cart is associated with,” West said.
Nearly 38,000 carts are currently being used in the city. According to the city’s website, carts will have barcodes assigned to a specific address and a missing or stolen cart will be brought back to its assigned location if reported.
“There are occasions where carts go missing, especially if there might be a transfer of residence. Someone moving in, a resident takes their roll cart, not knowing that it’s supposed to stay at that address,” West said. “We have had a few where they’ve kind of disappeared all of a sudden.”
West adds that this is a first-time occurrence for the city.
“We have had reports of people decorating their roll carts or roll carts getting damaged, but this is the first one,” West said.
Capt. Brian Leer with the Boone County Sheriff’s office told ABC 17 News that investigators have not been reported at the scene today. However, officials may return to the area as the investigation continues. He adds that with current weather conditions, investigations may be affected by changing water levels.
The department has also not yet released any suspects related to the investigation.