Man found dead near school

A man found lying unresponsive by the side of the road near Dandan Middle School early yesterday morning was later declared dead.

According to Department of Public Safety spokesperson Adrian Pangelinan, police responded at about 6:50am yesterday to a report about an unresponsive male individual who was found lying by the side of the road, across a two-story apartment near the school.

The apartment was about 350 meters from Dandan Middle School, according to Google Maps measurements.

Police officers arrived and secured the scene at 6:55am, followed shortly by detec-tives and medics.

The man was rushed to the Commonwealth Health Center where he was pro-nounced dead of natural cause at 8:30am.

Because the cause of death was of natural causes, Pangelinan said DPS is unable to disclose the victim’s identification, including ethnicity and age, as a form of respect for the family members of the deceased.

Pangelinan explained that the victim was found on the side of the road by an indi-vidual walking by. The individual then tried to see if the victim was OK and, after a couple attempts and no response, the individual asked a companion to call 911.

Officers were dispatched to the scene immediately while the Criminal Investigative Bureau and medics followed. Pangelinan added that, according to one officer he had spo-ken to, there was nothing unusual about the scene.

Saipan Tribune arrived at the scene at about 10am, but it had already been cleared and there were nearly no signs that something had happened there. The only remnants were a couple of pairs of black latex gloves.

Near the scene, a local store owner said she had seen the police surrounding the ar-ea at around 6:45am as she was preparing her children for school.

The store owner told Saipan Tribune that she did not know the man personally, but customers confirmed that he is not new in the area.

According to a police report about the case, fficers were flagged down at about 6:54am by an individual who claimed to have found the victim lying down. The officers were brought to an individual who was found to be lying on the ground facing up. Officers approached the victim and checked for a pulse; he had none. The officers also noticed the victim’s skin was cold to the touch. They immediately notified DPS central to send detec-tives and crime scene technicians to the scene. The area was then secured and detectives, along with crime scene technicians, arrived shortly after to document the scene.

This was the third lifeless body found on Saipan this year. The two previous ones were found in Kagman and Chalan Kanoa.