YCSO has lead on ID of body found in canal

  The Yuma County Sheriff's Office is following up on a possible lead it received in an effort to identify a body found floating in a canal Tuesday morning.

  According to YSCO spokesman Capt. Eben Bratcher, someone from Yuma phoned the sheriff's office and reported that they had a friend who intended to cross into the country illegally, but they haven't seen him in 12 days.

  "We are following up on that lead," Bratcher said. "It may not be that person, however, because the body hadn't been in the canal for more than 24 hours." 

  Bratcher added that YCSO has also contacted the Mexican Consulate in Yuma for help in identifying the body.

  On Tuesday, deputies were dispatched to the vicinity of Avenue 1E and County 14th Street at about 6:44 a.m. in reference to a male body found in a canal.

  When deputies arrived, the body had been removed from the canal by Yuma Mesa Irrigation District workers.

  The body is described as a Hispanic male adult, in his late 30s to early 40s and dressed in a white T-shirt, blue shorts and one Nike tennis shoe. He was approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, 225 pounds with short black hair and a mustache.

  Bratcher said the victim had no identification. Latent fingerprints  taken from the body are being checked against computer records.

  The cause of death has not yet been determined. However, at this point, foul play is not suspected, according to Bratcher.

  Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call YCSO at 783-2227. 

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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.