Law enforcement officials are conducting an investigation after a “severely decomposed” and decapitated body was found behind a McDonald’s restaurant location in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday.
According to USA Today, Brooke Reese, a Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesperson, told the outlet that police officials were notified at roughly 10:30 a.m. (local time) on Friday that a woman discovered decomposed human remains in the Hillhurst neighborhood of Nashville.
WSMV reported that the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department confirmed that a “severely decomposed grouping of skeletal remains” was discovered in the woods behind a McDonald’s location. The outlet noted that detectives with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s Homicide unit also discovered a human skull in a “deep state of decomposition” located roughly 100 feet from the decomposed body remains.
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During a press briefing regarding Friday’s discovery, Reese told reporters, “It is unclear at this point who this person is, how this person got there.” The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesperson explained that officials have not yet determined the gender or the age of the unidentified human body.
“Given the heat and the woods and the nature of how this person was found it’s extremely difficult for officers to see and [for] our CSI team to photograph and capture,” Reese added.
According to WSMV, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s investigation into the identity of the decomposed human remains remains ongoing.
WSMV reported that the employees across the street from the site of the decomposed body were shocked by Friday’s discovery.
“It’s pretty gory. That’s crazy. I don’t even know what to say,” Tom Keesee, one of the nearby workers, said. “We live in a big city. I don’t want to say killings are normal, but a headless body, that’s the next level.”