A firefighter prepares to be lowered into a sewer in Warren. (credit: WWJ/Pat Sweeting, File)
STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) – An investigation continues along 15 Mile Road in Sterling Heights after several body parts were found in a sewer.
Sterling Heights police Lt. Luke Riley told WWJ Newsradio 950 that contract workers were working a sanitary sewer line when they made the discovery Wednesday around 8:30 a.m.
Riley said the parts were found on a grate about 50 feet down.
“They were not skeletal. Exactly what they are I can’t tell you a this point, but from the description of what they are they definitely appear to be human and they don’t appear to have been there a tremendously long time,” he said.
A tattoo was spotted on one of the parts and the Medical Examiner’s office is working to piece it together.
A photo has been provided to the media. (View it here - Please note: Image at link shows actual human remains and may be disturbing). Anyone who may recognize this tattoo is asked to contact police.
Talking to WWJ’s Pat Sweeting at the scene, Gene Schabath, Deputy Public Works Commissioner for Macomb County, said there appeared to be numerous “small parts” measuring about 6 inches long.
“Between 10 and 15 (parts), and they don’t know where they came from. I mean, in terms of the body — arm, leg or whatever,” Schabath said
An autopsy will be performed.
Fifteen Mile Road was closed west of Schoenherr for more than three hours following the discovery, but has since reopened. (Visit our traffic page.)
