Police investigate death of man found near transformer station in Athens

An Athens-Clarke police officer was dispatched Wednesday to check on a pickup abandoned along a gravel road for at least three days only to find a dead body nearby in the woods.

Police detectives were still working Friday to get a positive identification of the body and the cause of death.

“The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, so everything is pending the coroner’s report and autopsy,” police Lt. Jody Thompson said.

Evidence gathered at the scene shows the man may be the owner of the blue 2003 Ford F-150 pickup, a Gainesville man in his 60s, according to police.

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The body was found shortly before 11 a.m. in the area of Barnett Shoals Road and Whit Davis Road, where the pickup was parked on the gravel road that leads to a power transformer station.

The truck had been parked at the location since at least July 16 as the responding officer reported he saw it on that date.

On Wednesday, the officer arrived and while investigating the truck he saw a man lying partially on his back against a tree, according to the report.

The officer noticed immediately that the person was dead, so he called his shift supervisor.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Police investigate death of man found along gravel road in Athens