Police are seeking answers after finding a decomposing body wrapped in plastic in a shopping cart outside of a Northern California grocery store.
Authorities were called to a Food Maxx grocery store in Chico around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday after receiving reports that a body had been found in a shopping cart, Action News Now reported. A preliminary investigation into the gruesome discovery revealed apparent injuries to the body of the deceased, leading police to suspect foul play.
“There was obviously some suspicious circumstances-body was found wrapped in plastic in a cart-shopping cart and there were some apparent injuries that were reported and so a homicide investigation was initiated,” Detective Lieutenant Brian Miller told the outlet. (RELATED: Police Fid ‘Mummified’ Body In Donation Bin After Someone Detects Foul Odor)
Detectives got security footage from Food Maxx as they search for answers after a man was found dead in a shopping cart in Chico on Sunday. https://t.co/kHHIrzRHWb
— Action News Now (@ActionNewsNow) March 14, 2023
Surveillance footage showed that the cart was indeed moved, possibly by a suspect, to the front of the store. Police, however, indicated it had been placed there days before the body was found. (RELATED: Texas Man Found Dead In Home Was Living With Corpse For Months, Authorities Say)
“The indication we have, the cart was there for days, I don’t know how long but the cart was placed over there by the entrance for days,” Miller told the Action News. “I presume the body was in there the whole time,” he added, referring to the surveillance footage showing the plastic and the cart.
Investigators have combed the scene in search of clues, taking samples of stains found on the ground that followed the shopping cart’s path to the front of the store as seen in the surveillance footage, the outlet stated.
An autopsy has been ordered on the victim to determine the exact cause of death.