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August 1, 2007

Body found behind Winsor Hill School in Johnston

JOHNSTON -- Someone dumped a body behind the Winsor Hill School, Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini said today.

The body, which appears to be the remains of a woman, was in a state of decomposition when a Johnston police sergeant went to the school this morning in response to a janitor’s telephone call, Tamburini said.

The cause of the person’s death was not apparent at the scene, Tamburini said. But police are treating it as a homicide.

Investigators have evidence suggesting someone brought the body to the location behind the school from somewhere else, said Tamburini, who declined to elaborate on the evidence.

“We can say with certainty that it didn’t happen here,” Tamburini said.

“It appears a person or persons drove back there and placed a body there,” he said. “They dumped the body there.”

Tamburini declined to speculate on exactly how long the body had been behind the school at 100 Theresa St. But it was there long enough to decompose, he said. “It was there for a while,” he added.

-- Journal staff writer Mark Reynolds, with a report from Journal staff photographer Bob Thayer

Investigators have no suspects and they have not identified the deceased.

Tamburini said he hopes to have the woman’s identity later today.

Meanwhile, detectives are coordinating with Providence police who have a number of fresh missing person cases, including some cases involving women, Tamburini said.

Janitorial staff at the school were uncertain as to what was behind the school, but they smelled a distinct odor and alerted police, Tamburini said.

Sgt. Joseph Razza, the onduty supervisor for the department’s overnight shift, went to the school and found the body, he said.

The body was found near a ball field at the school, on the opposite side of a fence that surrounds the field. Around noon today, police tape surrounded the area where the body was found. No officers remained at the scene.

As the investigation proceeds, Tamburini is emphasizing that the body was brought to the location behind the school.

“Based on my experience in dealing with these matters it definitely does not appear that it happened anywhere in the vicinity of the school,” he said. “…I just want the neighbors to understand that.”

Posted by Mike McKinney at 1:04 PM | Permalink

August 1, 2007

Body found behind Winsor Hill School in Johnston

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