Tragedy struck the stretch of Highway 61 in St. Paul once more as a body was discovered near a roadside memorial for another victim on Saturday morning. FOX 9 reports that St. Paul police were alerted to the grim find around 10:45 a.m., after being flagged down by people paying homage to a loved one who had died in a previous crash at the same location.
Police indicated that the group gathered to honor the memory of their fallen family member, and was shocked to uncover a body in the nearby brush. In a confluence of remembrance and horror, the discovery drew a bleak parallel to the mourning the group was there to express. St. Paul fire medics, after being called in by the officer, pronounced the man dead at the scene, details CBS News Minnesota had learned.
Following the somber find, the area adjacent to the memorial was promptly cordoned off, turning into a crime scene under investigation. St. Paul homicide detectives are looking into the man's death, though no further details have been revealed regarding the identity of the deceased or cause of death.
Authorities have not yet speculated on the connection, if any, between the discovered body and the site's tragic history. They continue to piece together the sequence of events that culminated in this latest death mere feet from a memorial marking a prior fatality. As investigators work to uncover these truths, a sense of unease remains draped over Highway 61, a thoroughfare now twice shadowed by loss.
