SKOWHEGAN — Police are investigating a case involving a body found in a wooded area off Walnut Street near the New Balance shoe factory, Skowhegan police Chief Joel Cummings confirmed Saturday afternoon.

Cummings was not at the scene but said by telephone after 3 p.m. that police suspect the person who is dead is the same one who had been reported missing earlier and was thought to be suicidal.

A Skowhegan police cruiser stands parked on Prescelly Drive in Skowhegan near the spot where a body was found Saturday in the woods. Staff photo by Amy Calder

Skowhegan police Detective Don Avery was investigating at the scene. Two Skowhegan police cruisers were parked for more than hour on the east side of the woods, off Prescelly Drive, a short dead-end street off Dennis Street, and near the entrance to a snowmobile trail. The trail is near apartment houses on the street.

Dennis Street is off Waterville Road, also known as U.S. Route 201, near the Snack Shack restaurant.

Skowhegan police summoned the state police Major Crimes Unit to help ensure no foul play was involved in the death, Cummings said.

Two Skowhegan officers came out of the woods around 4 p.m. and left in their cruisers. One officer confirmed the body had been removed from the woods.

A message left for Avery late Saturday afternoon with the Somerset County Communications office was not returned. A dispatcher said he did not know if Avery had left for the day.

No other information about the body was available late Saturday.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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