Identified! UT - Carbon Co., Male body in manhole, Dec'11 - Christopher Robertson

First published Dec 12 2011 11:04PM
Updated Dec 13, 2011 10:18AM

Investigators suspect foul play was involved in the death of a man whose body was found Monday in a manhole near Price.

Crews found the man’s body about 10:30 a.m. while doing a routine check of the sewer system near the interchange of U.S. Highway 6 and the highway business route east of Price, said Carbon County Sheriff James Cordova.

“There are special circumstances at the scene that would definitely raise some suspicion,” Cordova said. He would not disclose those circumstances, whether there were obvious signs of trauma on the body, or what position the body was in.

The man was carrying no documents, and investigators have no other information indicating who he is, Cordova said. Because of cold temperatures, investigators cannot immediately estimate how long the body may have been in the sewer system, but Cordova said the man’s body had begun to decompose.

An autopsy is pending, Cordova said.

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It's been three years since Christopher Robertson's naked, decomposing body was found inside a sewer manhole near Price, and investigators are no closer to figuring out how he died or who put him there...

Christopher Robertson, 38, had alcohol and methamphetamine in his system, but not at levels that could have caused his death, according to Carbon County Sheriff's Sgt. David Brewer. He also had no obvious or underlying injuries that could have proved fatal, according to the state medical examiner.

Investigators and Robertson's family do not believe he could have lowered himself into the manhole, held on to a ladder rung with one arm and pulled the manhole cover back into place on his own. That's because Christopher Robertson was being treated for cancer and had undergone joint replacement surgery shortly before he disappeared. "He had to walk with either a cane or (use) a wheelchair," Kelsey Robertson said.

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