UPDATE:
What began as a routine check on the well being of a neighbor, turned into a homicide investigation in Downtown Lancaster.
People who live on the 200 block of West Walnut Street, say they keep to themselves and that not much really happens there.
But, something did happen. A possible murder, and it could have happened days or even maybe weeks ago.
Jennifer Collazo woke up to something no one ever wants to encounter, a foul smell coming from the vent system. She lives above the apartment where the decomposing body was found. She alerted Lancaster City Police, and based on their initial findings, found the death to be suspicious.
Police have cleared the scene, and an autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death.
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Late Monday morning, Lancaster City Police discovered a body and initial findings seemed suspicious enough for officers to call for a homicide investigation.
The incident occurred on the 200 block of West Walnut Street,
A "check on the welfare" call prompted Lancaster City Police to the scene before 11 a.m. Monday morning, and that's when they discovered a decomposed body.
Neighbors tell us the body is likely of a middle-aged male, if the body in the apartment belongs to that of the renter.
But it's the manner in which the body was found that has roped off this seemingly quiet block into a homicide investigation. An autopsy will soon be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Police have not yet released an identity of the victim and tell us the investigation will likely continue into the evening hours.
From neighbors we spoke to, suspicious is really the perfect way to describe this death. If the victim is the person who lived in the apartment, an older male, he was rarely seen outside.
The entire scene is less than a mile from the police station.
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Lancaster City Police are investigating a homicide.
Officers were called to an apartment building Monday morning, on the south side of the 200 block of West Walnut Street for a "check on welfare". When the officers arrived, they found an adult male dead in the apartment.
According to the Lancaster County Deputy Coroner, the male had been dead for a period of time, and based on the inital investigation the death is considered suspicious and is being investigated as a homicide.
The name of the victim has not been released. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Police are still investigating, and anyone with information is urged to call Lancaster City Police at 717-735-3300 or Lancaster County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-322-1913.
