Identified! CO - Denver, Teen's body in suitcase, Apr'11 - Joshua Churchwell

tfrohning

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Child's body found in suitcase in southwest Denver

DENVER -- Police are investigating the discovery of a child’s body that was partially buried in a field in southwest Denver Friday afternoon.

Investigators say a group of children came across the body at about 1:15 p.m. near a Denver Solid Waste Management facility and alerted a public employee who, in turn, contacted police.

The crime scene is in the area of 1710 West Atlantic Place, near the intersection of West Jewell Ave. and South Raritan St. and a short distance from Ruby Hill Park.

Witness Jose Silva, 16, told FOX31’s Tammy Vigil the body is that of a young boy.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-childs-body-found-in-field-20110401,0,5874144.story?track=rss
 
My God, that is horrific. Let's hope it brings closure to one suffering family.
 
Another article, with slightly different details: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27402764/detail.html

"Two 13-year-old boys said they were searching for scrap metal in the field when they found a briefcase partially buried in a field and covered with a plastic swimming pool.

One of the boys told 7NEWS Reporter Marc Stewart that when they opened the case, a large number of flies flew out and they saw what appeared to be a man's body. The body appeared to be wearing boxers, the kids said."
 
How terrifying for those kids!!!! Hope this gets solved quickly, crime around the front range seems to get worse each day... :twocents:
 
Another article, with slightly different details: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27402764/detail.html

"Two 13-year-old boys said they were searching for scrap metal in the field when they found a briefcase partially buried in a field and covered with a plastic swimming pool.

One of the boys told 7NEWS Reporter Marc Stewart that when they opened the case, a large number of flies flew out and they saw what appeared to be a man's body. The body appeared to be wearing boxers, the kids said."

so now we went from a little boy to a teenager to a man:banghead:
Hope they update tomorrow!
 
so now we went from a little boy to a teenager to a man:banghead:
Hope they update tomorrow!

I presume one or more of the reporters included unverified information. Probably all of them :p

If it's really a "briefcase," I'd be more inclined to the younger ages.
 
The body of a person discovered crammed into a suitcase and dumped in a field near a Denver park is of a young man or teen-ager, police say.

The body, which has not yet been identified, was also described as being white or Hispanic, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.

Police consider the case a death investigation and not necessarily a homicide, Jackson said.

He said there were no obvious signs of violence.

Snipped from http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17759413

Police say it appears to be a White or Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20s. Police say they believe the body was there at least 48 hours, but there are no obvious signs of force, such as a stab wound or gunshot wound. They also say it does not match the description of any missing persons.

Snipped from http://www.9news.com/news/article/190940/339/Police-have-more-details-on-body-found-in-suitcase
 
Okay...so the male was in a hole in the ground, covered by a briefcase and a plastic swimming pool and the police "don't necessarily" think it was a homicide? Do they think the man dug a hole, covered himself with the pool and perhaps just stopped breathing? This case sounds really messed up.
 
There's no way this can be anything but a homicide. Someone had to cover him up after he was deceased, and someone had to have put his body in a suitcase.
 
It's definitely possible that his death was not the result of homicide. Probably the most obvious alternate reason is alcohol poisoning/drug overdose or any attendant side effects of intoxication (e.g. aspirating vomit after being put to bed to "sleep off" too much drink). Sometimes substance users panic and dump the body when a fellow user ODs. I'm sure they're going to run toxicology on the UID.
 
Okay...so the male was in a hole in the ground, covered by a briefcase and a plastic swimming pool and the police "don't necessarily" think it was a homicide? Do they think the man dug a hole, covered himself with the pool and perhaps just stopped breathing? This case sounds really messed up.

One thing that comes to mind is that he was homeless, tried to cover himself up to keep warm, and accidentally suffocated himself.

And no matter how the body was disposed of, that doesn't automatically mean somebody killed him first. He could have OD'd or something and the people around him just disposed of him.
 
One thing that comes to mind is that he was homeless, tried to cover himself up to keep warm, and accidentally suffocated himself.

And no matter how the body was disposed of, that doesn't automatically mean somebody killed him first. He could have OD'd or something and the people around him just disposed of him.

I don't buy it. I've never heard one case of a person "accidentally" suffocating themselves. Yes, I know about ODing, choking on vomit, etc. But I just don't see the suitcase or briefcase and pool being in an innocent scenario. Just my 2 cents.
 
I don't buy it. I've never heard one case of a person "accidentally" suffocating themselves. Yes, I know about ODing, choking on vomit, etc. But I just don't see the suitcase or briefcase and pool being in an innocent scenario. Just my 2 cents.

You've really never run into a case of accidental suffocation? I don't want to be condescending and haul out pointers if you're just being rhetorical.
 
A 17-year-old boy whose body was found in a suitcase in a Denver field Friday is the son of the Burlington city administrator.

On Monday, the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified the dead boy as Joshua Oaks Churchwell of Burlington.

The teen is the son of Bob Churchwell, the city administrator for Burlington, a town on the Eastern Plains.

Denver and Burlington police said the teen had not been reported missing.

Snipped from: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27425723/detail.html

The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner has not yet released the manner and cause of death.

Snipped from http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17769698
 
You've really never run into a case of accidental suffocation? I don't want to be condescending and haul out pointers if you're just being rhetorical.

You can be as condescending as you want if that's your thing, but the only suffocation that I've ever heard of other than babies suffocating would be what I mentioned in my post above and what some kids call "The Choking Game," but I just don't feel that the scene where the victim was found alludes to this game. Please feel free to enlighten me. I definitely enjoy learning new things. :confused:
 
You can be as condescending as you want if that's your thing, but the only suffocation that I've ever heard of other than babies suffocating would be what I mentioned in my post above and what some kids call "The Choking Game," but I just don't feel that the scene where the victim was found alludes to this game. Please feel free to enlighten me. I definitely enjoy learning new things. :confused:

It sounds more and more unlikely for this case, that's for sure. Something VERY hinky going on with this poor kid.

Damn, the article I wanted to include for you has gone into the website's pay-to-access archive :(

It is rare in adults. I did not mean to make it sound like it was common. But does happen.
 

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