PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) – A crew cleaning up homeless encampments discovered human remains in downtown Portland early Tuesday, police officials said.
Officers responded to a “suspicious priority” call near SW Harvey Milk Street and SW Naito Parkway just after 9:15 a.m.
A crew from Rapid Response, the city-contracted group that cleans homeless encampments, initially came to clear the area Monday. They were called back Tuesday morning when there was “new evidence” at the intersection.
That’s when crews discovered what appeared to be human remains and immediately called, a Portland police spokesperson said.
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The medical examiner’s office and the office’s homicide unit came to investigate.
“Any time human remains are discovered, our homicide unit will take it seriously. They want to investigate to see how it happened, where it happened,” PPB spokesman Mike Benner said, adding that as of Tuesday afternoon the death had not been ruled a homicide.
Officers responded to a “suspicious priority” call near SW Harvey Milk Street and SW Naito Parkway just after 9:15 a.m. (KATU)
Investigators are talking to residents in the area and checking surveillance cameras for leads in the case.
“The Portland Police Bureau recognizes that a discovery like this, a discovery of human remains, especially in the downtown area, in broad daylight, is concerning. But I can assure you that our detectives are aware and are trying to determine what happened,” Benner said.
Benner later confirmed that the remains were indeed found in a trash bag. However, at this time he is unable to release specific information about what type of remains were found or how long they were there.
“We are in the early stages of this investigation, and it will be made public in due course,” Benner said.
Anyone with information and who has not yet spoken to police can contact homicidetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 26-298767.
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