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Link between abandoned car, dead body looked at
The Department of Public Safety is looking into a possible link between an abandoned car at the Bird Island Lookout in Marpi and a dead body found in the vicinity of Bird Island last Nov. 25.
In a statement yesterday, DPS said received a call last Nov. 14, reporting a Toyota Corolla that had been parked at the Bird Island Lookout for the past three days.
Police officers who responded to the scene noticed that the vehicle’s keys had been left in the ignition. In addition, a CNMI driver’s license was found inside the vehicle that appeared to show the identity of an Asian male.
DPS declined to provide the name of the person because the case is ongoing, but said that the individual has no immediate family members on island, and border crossings indicate that the individual in the driver’s license did not leave the island.
The vehicle was later returned to an auto shop, which had lent the car as a courtesy vehicle.
This case could be possibly linked to a dead body that hikers found in the area around Bird Island last Nov. 25. DPS received a 911 call reporting a dead individual found around the outer cove of Bird Island. Police and paramedics that arrived confirmed finding the body, which was already decomposing. It was then processed by crime scene investigators and transported to the Commonwealth Health Center, where the body was pronounced dead and transferred to the morgue. Due to the body’s advanced state of decomposition, it could not be immediately identified but the gender of the victim is male.
A preliminary examination of the body was conducted by Dr. Philip Dauterman and he indicated that there were no signs of trauma.
DPS has requested the Attorney General’s Office to hire a medical examiner in order to determine the cause of death, the circumstances surrounding the death of the individual, and possibly identify it.
DPS spokesperson Adrian Pangelinan previously said that there have been no reports of missing persons recently, in relation to the unidentified victim.
