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WEST VALLEY CITY — The body found Friday afternoon in a drainage culvert near a vacant Kmart is a female, police confirmed Saturday.
Officials from the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on the body and determined it is female, according to an emailed statement from West Valley City Police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku.
There were no obvious signs of trauma on the body, according to Vainuku. A cause of death and identification of the body would not be confirmed until next week, she added.
"It's obviously suspicious," West Valley Police Lt. Kent Stokes said. "We're concerned for how a body got into a drainage culvert."
A survey crew that was examining the former Kmart building for new construction discovered the body about 12:25 p.m. Friday, Vainuku said. It was floating in about 4 feet of stagnant water in a drainage box on the property near 1770 W. 4100 South.
Personnel from Unified fire and a dive team extracted the body later on Friday afternoon, according to Vainuku.
Contributing: Carter Williams
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