A badly decomposing body found in a WinCo supermarket pillar may be the fugitive authorities were chasing a week ago and who was last seen on top of the store in Lancaster, California.
A plumber discovered the body in the hollow column outside the store’s entrance on Saturday afternoon after being called because of strong odor, KABC-TV reported. The store thought the smell may have been connected to a sewage leak.
As the plumber and a store employee started to take apart the column, bodily fluid reportedly started to leak out and they saw a human leg with a shoe on it, the television station said. Authorities spent the rest of the weekend removing the body from the column.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Department Lt. John Corina said the suspect had run from authorities the previous Monday after a car chase ended in a crash. The man darted into the WinCo store and reportedly made it up to the roof, but officers couldn’t find him, Corina told KABC-TV.
"He may have gotten inside there and somehow gotten down the column, trying to hide from the deputies and then couldn't get out," Corina said. "It's been over 100 degrees up here every day. I can't imagine being inside that column and just baking. It's a strange development, and if he died that way, it's a horrible way to die."
Video from the scene showed first responders removing the body from inside the stone pillar, KTLA-TV reported, after firefighters were seen chipping away at the pillar's stone material.
On Sunday, a crime scene cleaning truck was seen in front as customers walked in and out of the store.
Authorities had not released the suspect's name and a coroner will be determining the cause of death.
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