Police: Tentative ID on body found Saturday

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Police say they have a tentative identification on a body found behind a South Side home Saturday.

Lt. Doug Bobovnyik said detectives are working with the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office to confirm the identity of the man, who was found after officers were called to the area about 5:50 p.m. Saturday to investigate a foul odor.

Police are investigating the man’s death as a homicide, the 15th in Youngstown in 2015.

Bobovnyik said the man’s body had been in the spot for at least a few weeks, and based on the tentative investigation, they believe it is someone who is not from the area who recently moved to the city.

“The body was in an advanced stage of decay,” Bobovnyik said.

Police did check missing-persons reports, but the person investigators believe is the victim never was reported missing, Bobovnyik said.

In 2014, Youngstown had 19 homicides. At this point in 2014 the city had 10 homicides. They did not reach 15 until Nov. 16, 2014, when a man was found shot to death at a South Side motorcycle club.

Besides an identification, detectives also are working with the coroner’s office to narrow down the time of the man’s death and the way he died.