A Caltrans clean-up crew found a body so badly decomposed police
initially couldn’t identify its sex about noon Thursday on the side
of southbound U.S. 101 at the San Martin Avenue off-ramp.
A Caltrans clean-up crew found a body so badly decomposed police initially couldn’t identify its sex about noon Thursday on the side of southbound U.S. 101 at the San Martin Avenue off-ramp.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating whether the body was a missing 43-year-old San Martin man after a bank card found near the accident contained the man’s name, CHP Officer Jaime Rios said. However, the CHP will not release the name until the coroner has confirmed whether it is the same person.
“We have a good idea of who it is,” Rios said.
The family of the missing person has been notified, he said.
A Caltrans crew doing routine highway cleanup discovered the body, hidden from view in the dry brush to the left of the off-ramp. A Suzuki motorcycle lay nearby.
“They found the remains of a body that was obviously dead,” Rios said Thursday. “It’s pretty badly decomposed, like it had been out there for a while. We can’t tell if it’s a man.”
Police are investigating the death as if it were a result of a collision, although it could have been a solo accident, Rios said. If the person’s death was caused by a hit and run accident, it could be considered a homicide. The homicide division of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office scoured the scene for several hours Thursday.
Investigators will consider damage to the vehicle, debris found nearby, tracks found on the road and injuries that the person sustained as they seek to assess what happened, Rios said.
Rios did not know how long the body had been there since the brush helped conceal the body and motorcycle from passing motorists’ view.
About 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Bracco’s Towing drove off with the motorcycle strapped to the back of a tow truck. The bike was still intact but crusted with mud and grass. About the same time, the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office wheeled the body out of the weeds on a stretcher covered with a maroon blanket.
Patrolmen closed off the area at 12:40 p.m. Thursday while investigating the accident. While the off-ramp was originally expected to reopen at 2:40 p.m., CHP didn’t allow traffic to pass until closer to 5 p.m. For hours, traffic on southbound U.S. 101 was backed up to south Morgan Hill and there was slowing all the way to Coyote Creek Golf Club.
