A man whose body was discovered in a snowbank on Lookout Mountain had walked away from a halfway house and may have been murdered, officials say.
An autopsy is scheduled this week for Michael Armenta, 41, whose body was discovered around 9:45 a.m. Monday, said Triena Harper, chief deputy coroner of the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.
Harper said there were no apparent bullet or stab wounds or any other obvious signs of what caused the death.
“At this point, we don’t know enough,” she said.
There was no car near the body, Harper said. The autopsy could reveal whether he was killed, she added.
“Obviously, that’s a possibility,” Harper said.
She said her office has contacted Armenta’s family and learned that he was homeless.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said Armenta walked away from the Columbine Unit, a Correctional Management Inc. halfway house in Denver, on Dec. 11.
He was serving a three-year community-corrections sentence for burglary and escape, Sanguinetti said.
Armenta had previously served an eight-year prison sentence for burglary, starting in 1989.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
