Denver police said Sunday that officers are working an outdoor death investigation in the 300 block of West Ellsworth Avenue, turning a normally uneventful stretch of Baker into an active scene. The area has been secured as detectives and the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner move to confirm the person’s identity and determine how they died. Police have already signaled that they will share more information only if the case is upgraded to a homicide investigation.
In a post from the Denver Police Department, officials said officers responded to the 300 block of W. Ellsworth Ave and that the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will make the final call on the cause of death. The department added that “we will only update this post if the status of this investigation changes to a homicide” and reminded followers that the social media account is not monitored around the clock, so urgent concerns still need to go through regular dispatch lines.
Medical examiner will certify cause
According to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, the office is responsible for scene investigations and autopsies in these kinds of cases. After testing and reviews are complete, staff there will certify both the cause and manner of death. The office operates within the city’s Department of Public Health & Environment and conducts internal case reviews before releasing a victim’s identity to the public.
Where this occurred
The 300 block of W. Ellsworth Ave is in the Baker neighborhood, a near-south Denver area that combines older homes, small businesses and light industrial stretches, according to Wikipedia. Neighbors along Ellsworth are known to quickly share photos and on-the-ground observations to local forums whenever police activity pops up on the block.
Similar investigations sometimes change status
Outdoor death scenes like this are often handled as routine fact-finding efforts at first, with investigators working through standard protocols. Sometimes, though, they are reclassified as homicides when evidence or autopsy findings suggest foul play. Denver7 reported a recent example near Sloan’s Lake that started as an outdoor death investigation before police upgraded it to a homicide case…