Officials are trying to identify a person whose skeletal remains were found in thick brush behind the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.
The partially buried remains, which were discovered at about 5 p.m. by a hiker, were so decomposed officials could not determine whether the person was a man or a woman, said Sonny Jackson, Denver police spokesman.
A popular bike path runs on one side of Cherry Creek and the body was found on the opposite side, Jackson said.
“It’s not an area that people normally go,” he said.
Denver homicide detectives are investigating because the body was found under unusual circumstances, Jackson said. But that doesn’t necessarily indicate foul play, he said.
“We don’t know if this person was the victim of a homicide or whether the person died of exposure,” Jackson said.
Police will not release the name of the hiker who discovered the body because he is a witness, Jackson said.
“We may never know what happened to this person,” he said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
