Officials investigating ‘very suspicious’ case of body found on Utah freeway

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Portions of I-215 were closed Saturday morning after a body was found on the southbound area of the freeway, close to Davis County, officials said.

The body was found by construction workers about 8:45 a.m. in a construction zone near 2600 North, according to Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Evan Kirby.

KSL.com reports Salt Lake police, who initially responded to the scene, determined the body had been there for more than a day, UHP Lt. Wade Breur said. It was found about 15 feet off the road in an area of weeds, so it could have been there for a lot longer if the construction workers hadn’t discovered it, he added.

Authorities were investigating two possibilities for the situation, Breur said: The person could have been struck by a vehicle, or someone could have dumped the body where it was found Saturday.

“It’s very suspicious,” he said.

The right split of the freeway and the offramp to 2100 North were subsequently closed, according to a tweet from Utah Department of Transportation officials. The 2100 North offramp was still closed as of 3 p.m., according to the UDOT website. UDOT officials estimated the freeway would not be completely cleared until later Saturday evening.

As of late Saturday morning, officials has not released the gender of the deceased or the exact cause of death. The Utah State Bureau of Investigations and UHP are looking into the incident.

Anyone with information about the body is asked to call UHP dispatchers at 801-887-3800.