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Dead body was already rigid when found—DPS
The body of the 64-year-old man who was found dead by the beach of the 13 Fishermen’s Memorial in Garapan last Tuesday was already stiff when found by police.
According to an official statement from the Department of Public Safety, when police responded to a call reporting a dead man by the 13 Fishermen’s beach area, the body was already in an advanced state of rigor mortis.
Rigor mortis is a medical term used to describe a body that has stiffened after death.
The police statement said the elderly man was unresponsive when dispatch arrived. Earlier unofficial police statements did not find any signs of foul play, that the man may have died of natural causes.
Police cars closed off the area early Tuesday morning after receiving a report of a dead body found by the beach shore.
DPS Dispatch received the call at 5:32am.
Upon arriving at the scene, police found the victim’s body lying face up by a coconut tree north of the 13 Fishermen’s pavilion.
The body was immediately brought to the Commonwealth Health Canter and was pronounced dead at 6:43am.
Investigators later found out that the victim had been taking heart and kidney medication and had just consumed alcohol.
Dispatch reported that the man also had an abrasion on the back of his head and on both his knees.
According to the victim’s companion, they were new to the island and had just arrived Sept. 27, 2018. The pair had not even established a permanent address yet.
The cause of the victim’s death is still under investigation.
DPS Commissioner Robert Guerrero said in an interview last Tuesday that no autopsy has been done to the body and one cannot be made until DPS files a report about the incident.
