AURORA | Aurora police and the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office are asking for the public’s help identifying a dead man discovered earlier this month in north central Aurora.
The unidentified man’s remains were found April 1 following a report of a physical altercation in the area near Interstate 225 and East Sixth Avenue, according to a statement from the Aurora Police Department.
While speaking with the people involved in the altercation, police officers were informed about the human remains under the overpass crossing Toll Gate Creek near Potomac Street and Potomac Circle, a police statement said.
“There was no identification with the remains,” the statement said. “The investigation to date suggests the deceased might be a transient named Ben who frequented the East Colfax Avenue and I-225 corridors before his death.”
Detectives from the department’s Major Crime Homicide Unit responded and found the body. The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy and determined the remains belong to an African American man, likely in his 30s, the statement said.
“He was approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed about 140 pounds,” the statement said. “The man had short, curly black hair and was wearing a brown leather bomber-style jacket, a fluorescent green hooded sweatshirt, a grey crop-topped hooded sweatshirt with decorative grommets and strings along the sides, black sweatpants, camouflage shorts and light brown shearling-type boots.”
Authorities are urging anyone who may have known the man or who may have seen someone matching the description in the area to contact the Aurora Police Department or the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.