Saponified corpse wrapped in plastic and stuffed into sack discovered at Malaga reservoir
Police investigators suspect that the victim's body was thrown from a bridge judging by its location in an area with difficult access
A gruesome discovery was made yesterday at the Casasola reservoir in Almogía, just north of Malaga city. A foreign member of the public walking through the area found a suspiciously shaped construction sack on the shore of the reservoir and alerted the police, who later confirmed it contained a human corpse.
The discovery was made under the bridge of the A-7075 road, which connects the district of Puerto de la Torre in Malaga with the town of Antequera. The viaduct is located where the Casasola stream feeds into the reservoir of the same name. After a call was made to the 112 emergency services, Local Police officers were initially mobilised to the scene, where they descended to the shoreline with some difficulty in order to reach the sack.
The case was then handed over to the Guardia Civil, who launched a crime investigation. Firefighters were mobilised to recover the body. In the meantime, a judicial commission comprising the judge on duty, a lawyer and a forensic doctor was set up to authorise the removal of the corpse.
The body was recovered without removing the sack in which it was found in order to avoid destroying evidence. It appears that the body was wrapped in plastic and then placed in a construction sack, which was then tied with tape or a kind of strap.
The body reportedly is that of a male. It has been taken to the institute of legal medicine in Malaga (IML), where forensic experts will carry out an autopsy to identify it and try and find out the cause of death.
According to sources, the body was in a state of saponification - a natural preservation process in humid environments in which fatty tissues are converted into a substance called adipocere (cadaveric wax or saponified fat), which can help preserve a body for years.
At the moment, everything clearly points to a violent cause of death. Given the location of the body - an area with difficult access - the police investigators believe that it was thrown from the bridge and gradually revealed by falling water levels at the reservoir.
