Jogger Discovers a Decomposing Body Inside a Tent in Central Park Behind The Met: Police
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A jogger discovered a decomposing body in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday, the New York Police Department confirms to PEOPLE.
The passerby allegedly found the body inside a tent at 79 Street and East Drive around noon local time on Friday, NYPD Sergeant Jessica McRorie said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
Police were subsequently notified by a Parks Department employee about the "possible skeletal remains," per the statement. Officers observed the human skeletal remains upon their arrival, though the body was unidentifiable at the scene.
Police and sources told The New York Post that the city medical examiner determined the remains, which were "mostly skeletal" when found, were in a "highly decomposed state."
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UpperEastSide.com reports that several neighbors have claimed that a homeless man was living in an encampment in the same area where the decomposing body was found.
Video from the outlet shows investigators hard at work as they move the body from the scene. At one point in the clip, two individuals dressed in white bodysuits and wearing gloves and masks can be seen carrying a large black bag, presumably carrying the decomposing body, away from the park with a police officer in tow.
Later in the video, the trio is seen loading the black bag into a white van.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, McRorie said in Saturday's statement to PEOPLE. The N.Y.C. Medical Examiner will determine the individual's cause of death.
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A police spokesperson told New York Daily News and The Sun that officials believe the individual died of natural causes.
"It doesn't look criminal in nature, it looks natural but we're going to have to wait and find out from the medical examiner," said a spokesperson, per The Sun.
