GRAINFIELD — Law enforcement agencies are continuing to look at identifying a name for a man’s body discovered Friday night near Grainfield in northwest Kansas.
Gove County Undersheriff Shawn Mesch said the agency was alerted to the discovery of a man’s body in a cornfield approximately a mile west of Exit 93 off Interstate 70. That exit is located near the high school building in Grainfield.
Mesch said the call came in about 7:30 p.m. Friday. Law enforcement secured the scene, along with help from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Mesch said the deceased is being labeled as “John Doe,” and believed to be a Hispanic male in his 50s. He said a coroner’s report indicated no foul play was determined and the death was a result of natural causes.
“We don’t know if he was a transient or what,” said Mesch, who noted there are no missing persons at all in the area.
He said the sheriff’s office has had no luck identifying the male as of Monday afternoon. He noted the time it might take to identify the male could take awhile.
Melissa Underwood, communications director for the KBI, said the organization was assisting the Gove County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation.
She reiterated no foul play was determined in the man’s death at this point in the investigation.
Gove County has a population less than 2,700, according to the latest Census.
Mesch said the discovery of the body was an unusual occurrence for the northwest Kansas county.
“That’s definitely not something we deal with around here,” he said.