Jon Johnson File Photo: The Graham County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a person found discarded in a bag off Artesia Road.
Deceased possibly a child
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A quail hunter located what turned out to be a deceased body discarded in a bag off Artesia Road near the corrals on Monday.
According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office news release, County Dispatch received a call about the bag at about 11:49 a.m. When deputies arrived to investigate they confirmed that it was a human body.
The bag was found partially underwater, and the hunter also located toys next to the bag, making him believe the deceased might be a child.
At this time, the cause of death and the identity of the deceased person has not been determined, but the body was identified as being small in stature. At this time, it is unknown how long the body was there, but it appeared to have been there at least longer than a few days.
Sheriff Allred said while nobody fitting the description of the dead body has been listed as being missing locally in the past month, they are searching to see if anyone else has been reported missing from out of the area that could be the deceased.
“We will figure it out,” Allred said.
The body was transported to Tucson for an autopsy by the Pima County Office of Medical Examiner, which is expected to take place on Thursday. The Sheriff’s Office looking for the autopsy to identify the sex of the deceased and, hopefully, give the cause and time of death.
“We still don’t know how old this person is,” Allred said. “We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl.”
The Sheriff’s Office is being assisted with the investigation by the Safford and Thatcher police departments. The case is being investigated as a homicide.
“We’ll keep plugging away at it until we resolve it,” Allred said. “Somebody wrapped it up in some stuff and put it where they put it.”
