EL PASO COUNTY — A body found in a heating vent on the roof of an elementary school may be that of a 17-year-old runaway, the Gazette reports.
The body was discovered Friday afternoon at French Elementary School, 5225 Alturas Drive, in Widefield School District 3, according to Lt. Lari Sevene, a spokeswoman with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
Sevene told the Gazette that a local teenage boy was reported missing Nov. 11, and his parents notified authorities Dec. 3 that he had been seen on the roof of the school.
The roof initially was too icy to check, but it was checked Monday and Tuesday, Sevene said, and nothing was found.
A Colorado Springs police officer who is a friend of the missing boy’s family decided to take another look on the roof Friday. He noticed the cover of a roof vent was ajar, He looked inside and saw a body 10 to 15 feet down the vent.
A positive identification will not be made until the body is removed and an autopsy completed, Sevene said.
