Naked woman found dead; Modesto police investigating

Modesto Police Department detectives are investigating “a suspicious death” after the naked body of a woman was found in an alley Friday morning.

Police received a call just before 9 a.m. of a body discovered in an alley off the 1700 block of Evergreen Avenue, just off Carver Road, according to Sgt. Kalani Souza of the Modesto Police Department.

Souza said police were unable to immediately determine the age range or race of the person because of the positioning of the body, which was between a fence and a utility box.

Detectives were on scene and interviewing the person who discovered the body, as well as neighbors in the area.

Souza said there were no obvious signs of trauma to the deceased woman but investigators had yet to move the body to look any further.

The original call came into police as a medical call, but officers who arrived on scene determined the person was deceased.

In a news release just before noon, Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves said, “We do know ... there is no connection between this investigation and the other recent death investigations.”

One investigation regards a man whose body was discovered along Wellsford Road east of Modesto on April 12. He was the victim of a hit-and-run, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.

Another investigation regards the death of 30-year-old Modesto resident Valerie Smith, whose body was found behind oleander bushes along Claus Road on April 4. The cause of death remains under investigation, Graves said, and has not yet been classified a homicide.

We’ll have more on this story as soon as further information becomes available.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Naked woman found dead; Modesto police investigating."