Decomposing body discovered by Birmingham rec center

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Birmingham police are investigating after a decomposed body was found in the woods Thursday morning.

Around 8:15 a.m., a person picking up cans near the East Pinson Valley Community Rec Center discovered the body in the woods near the parking lot, according to Officer Truman Fitzgerald.

Detectives are unsure about the deceased’s gender or how long they’ve been in the woods due to the state of decomposition.

“That’s pretty concerning so hopefully they find out what happened to the person, contact their family,” local resident Michael Carmichael told CBS 42 news crews at the scene.

Police suspect there may have been foul play involved in the person’s death, but the investigation is awaiting the results of the autopsy. BPD does not believe there is any threat to public safety in the area.

Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said decomposition can prove to be a challenge when trying to determine the cause of death and identify an individual.

“To observe what might be trauma, and it very well could be trauma, we need to take note of that,” Yates said. “But it also can be changes to the body because of the normal processes that happen to a body after death.”

Yates also talked about how medical examiners can identify a body that’s severely decomposed.

“As the body decomposes, there goes your data,” he said. “You lose the fingerprints, so then we have to turn to other means: dental identification, medical hardware identification or DNA identification.”

Yates said tattoos can also be helpful. However, if there is no data for dental records or tattoos, they sometimes need a loved one or family member to come forward to make a positive ID.

Those who believe the deceased person to be their loved one can reach out to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office at (205) 930-3603.

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