Woodland police are investigating the discovery of a dead body inside a vehicle at a used-car lot.
Sgt. Brett Hancock said the owner of Woodland Auto Sales, 1234 E. Main St., alerted police to the discovery at about 8 a.m. Thursday. Officers responded “and located a person in the passenger compartment of one of the vehicles,” Hancock said.
It was unclear how long the body had been inside the Chevrolet Suburban, which belonged to the car lot, Hancock said. The remains were in a state of decomposition, and it was unknown whether the person was male or female.
Yolo County coroner’s officials removed the body and were still in the process of determining the person’s identity and tracking down the next of kin as of late Thursday afternoon, Chief Deputy Coroner Gina Moya said.
Hancock said there were no obvious signs of foul play at the scene, but investigators are treating the case as a homicide at the outset “just to be safe.”
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact the Woodland Police Department at 530-661-7800.