Identified! FL - Gainesville, man's body found in canal, Jun'08 - Donald Murray

http://www.gainesville.com/article/...dy_found_near_Duck_Pond_neighborhood_entrance

From the Gainesville Sun:

"Gainesville Police are conducting a death investigation after a man's body was found in a canal in the 200 block of NE 10th Avenue Wednesday morning.

Additional details about the investigation or the cause of the man's death were not immediately available at 9:30 a.m.

Police reported the body of a white man who appeared to be in his mid-40s had been discovered in the canal behind the CVS store at NE 10th Avenue and Main Street. he man was not wearing any clothes."

It seems fishy to me that he was nude ...Duck pond is one the nicest neighborhoods we have in G-ville..old and historic. Obviously not a student that was out drinking too much (this neighborhood borders on downtown)

Updated article:

.

"...A Gainesville Regional Utilities employee found the body at about 8:30 a.m., said police spokeswoman Officer Summer Hallett.

The man was white, had dark hair and appeared to be in his mid-40s. He was not wearing any clothes, Hallett said. He had tattoos, which police were hoping would help identify him.

Hallett said officers did not know how long the body had been in the water. Due to exposure to the water, it was unclear if there had been any trauma to the body, she said. The body had been taken to the Medical Examiner's Office. Police were awaiting a report on the cause of death Wednesday morning.

Police remained in the area during the morning, questioning residents.

One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said police spoke to him about the case. There was some speculation that the body may have been dumped into the water, which the man said had swollen due to the recent rain.

“My dog was barking at about 6 a.m.,” the man said he told officers. “He was barking so much that I decided to look out. I looked out the window, and I didn't see anything.” The man said his view of the location were the body was found was obscured by a fence and plants."

http://www.gainesville.com/article/...eath_of_man_found_near_Duck_Pond_neighborhood

Update:

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080613/NEWS/806130308/0/WORK

Police have a mystery on their hands as they try to learn what happened to a New Port Richey man found dead in a Gainesville canal Wednesday.

Officers identified the man as Donald Stephen Murray, 50. Murray had been traveling from Texas to Tampa on a Greyhound bus when he stopped in Gainesville on June 7, police reported.

Murray told his estranged wife, who lives in the Tampa area, that he was going to stay in Gainesville and seek medical treatment...

Hallett said officers still don't know what caused Murray's death.

Officers found no signs of obvious trauma to Murray's body. An examination by the Medical Examiner's Office Wednesday did not immediately reveal the cause of death. Hallett said police are awaiting complete autopsy results, including toxicology, but that information could take several weeks.

A hit on national and state databases of fingerprints provided officers with information about Murray. Hallett said she did not know why Murray's fingerprints had been included on the databases....

On Thursday, police attempted to trace Murray's movements in Gainesville.

Murray had no ties to the area except that he stopped here and said he was seeking medical help, Hallett said.

My guess of his being found nude would be that if he was murdered, the killer thought removal of clothing would speed up the process of decomposition.
If he was seeking medical help in the area for both mental and physical health. We aren't sure exactly what kind of health problems he was having..

Hi Meow =) We do have a huge hospital up here that cares for a lot of patients w/o insurance (but it is on a case-by-base basis for outpatient treatment..if he had needed an ER, any would have taken him in Tampa) and he may have been here for that reason...however, if it were on an outpatient basis, it would have taken quite a while to set up, would have had paperwork, etc. (maybe not ON him, especially since nude, but with him if he had appts. set up).

A little disturbing.....how did he end up nude? Since they still don't know the COD, I'm running through possibilities of how someone could end up nude/dead. He may have suffered from a serious psychological problem...I'm not sure. Very weird, though. Wonder where his belongings are...we have a large homeless population here...hoping his stuff wasn't scooped up.