Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Woman's Body Was in Trash Can, According to News Reports

Pleasanton Police and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department are investigating the discovery of what's being called a female homicide victim.

Updated 6:48 a.m.: The remains of a person found inside a trash can in The Preserve neighborhood were of a woman, according to a report on KTVU Friday morning.

In the report, KTVU said police confirmed the body was female and said they believe she was a homicide victim.

Police discovered the body around 11 a.m. Thursday after a caller reported that a 45-gallon trash can looked suspicious sitting out in the middle of Dublin Canyon Road.

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The Alameda County coroner's bureau plans to perform an autopsy on
the body Friday morning, coroner's officials said.

Onlookers saw what appeared to be a body shrouded in a white sheet being removed by the coroner's office around 3 p.m.

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The body, which looked to be that of an adult, was wheeled on a gurney into a van.

shut down part of Dublin Canyon Road as part of the apparent criminal investigation. The Alameda County Sheriff's Department crime lab was at the scene, which was on Laurel Creek Drive and Dublin Canyon Road near The Preserve, a neighborhood in the west part of the city. The trash can was in front of a bank of trees on Dublin Canyon; further back is a single house with a horse corral.

The area teemed with media crews late Thursday afternoon — several television news vans camped in the area while at least three news helicopters buzzed loudly overhead.

Lt. Jeff Bretzing of Pleasanton Police said Thursday said no other agencies are involved with the investigation — just Pleasanton police and Alameda County agencies so far.

Reporters specifically asked if the Morgan Hill Police Department or Santa Clara County Sheriff were involved, which would indicate that the remains could be those of Sierra LaMar, a 15-year-old girl police say was kidnapped and slain. But Bretzing said no.

The trash can, which was turned over on the roadway and visible from behind the police tape, did not look to be the same type of city-issued trash bin residents in the area use.

Police descended on the area of the 11000 block of Dublin Canyon Road around 11 a.m. after the caller said the trash can looked out of place.

"We investigate everything in Pleasanton," Bretzing said.

The regular trash day in the neighborhood is Tuesday, according to neighbors.

 Anyone with information about the case has been asked to call
Pleasanton police at (925) 931-5100.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

Reach Patch Editor Tanya Rose at tanya.rose@patch.com

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