Police await DNA results
WAYNESBURG – Investigators do not think foul play was involved in the death of a man whose decomposed body was found nearly three months ago in a wooded area in Franklin Township.
“At this point, we don’t suspect any foul play, but (the investigation) is still ongoing,” state police Sgt. Steve Dowlin said Thursday. “We’re relatively close (to identifying the man) and working to wrap that up.”
The body was discovered Aug. 21 by children riding all-terrain vehicles in a wooded area near the Bortz car dealership along Route 21.
Investigators are awaiting results from DNA testing to confirm the man’s identity. Dowlin said they found evidence at the scene that led them “in a certain direction” to compare dental records and begin DNA testing.
“We’re hoping (the results) come back sooner rather than later so we can have a conclusion to this unfortunate matter,” Dowlin said.
Dowlin would not say whether investigators suspect the body is that of John K. Raikes, whose abandoned car was found June 27 in the Econo Lodge parking lot a couple hundred feet from where the body was discovered. Raikes, 57, was last seen at his Fairmont, W.Va., home June 20, police in West Virginia said.
A receptionist at the Econo Lodge said they had no one check in as a guest under the name of John Raikes in late June.
An autopsy was conducted the day after the body was discovered, although Dowlin would not comment on a cause or manner of death. He declined to elaborate on how the body was situated in the woods or what physical evidence was found in the area.