Mysterious case

Who is the dead man who nobody seems to have missed?

The remains were found in a garden in Hall on Monday afternoon.

(Bild: ZOOM Tirol/Krone KREATIV)

The case is puzzling the investigators from the Tyrolean State Office of Criminal Investigation: The identity of the badly decomposed body that a resident discovered in his own garden on Monday afternoon in Hall (Innsbruck-Land district) remains unclear. Was the person unaccounted for? Was it someone else's fault? And how long had the body actually been lying there?

It must have been a shock! The resident of the property in Hall will never forget the sight. He was actually looking for his cat at lunchtime on Monday. In the end, the man found a body in an area of the garden that was difficult to access and see - specifically: the mortal remains of a human!

Most of the body was very badly decomposed, but some of it was already skeletonized.

Philipp Rapold, Ermittler vom LKA Tirol

The police were alerted and cordoned off the site. The officers were presented with a gruesome scene. At first, it was not even clear whether the dead person was a man or a woman. "Most of the body was very badly decomposed, but some of it was already skeletonized," said chief investigator Philipp Rapold from the Tyrolean Criminal Police Office.

No clues to missing persons case
The identity is still a mystery. According to Rapold, there are also no clues to any missing persons case in the region so far and he is hoping for any information from the public. Above all, however, the investigators are relying on DNA matching. "We are then hoping for a match in the database. But it will probably be a week before we have a result."

The site where the body was found has been cordoned off.

(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

Murder cannot be ruled out
Due to the condition of the remains, the cause of death could not be conclusively determined during the forensic autopsy. "We are investigating in every direction," continues Rapold. The possibility of third-party negligence cannot be ruled out.

It is also still completely unclear how long the body was lying in the difficult-to-access and difficult-to-view area of the garden. It is also unclear whether the man died at this point.

The house and garden are part of a larger complex. The resident who made the terrible discovery lives there alone.