The mummified body discovered hidden in a wall at Oakland's Kaiser Convention Center last month has now been identified, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Joseph Edward Mejica, 42, has been missing since Aug. 22, 2020, according to the California Department of Justice website.
The body was found when workers renovating the long-abandoned center by Lake Merritt happened upon it, according to previous reporting by KCBS Radio.
At first, when the body was discovered, police considered it a potential homicide. But now it seems possible that Mejica became trapped in the wall by accident, according to the Chronicle.
Police were able to identify him using a plate implant in his ankle. The implant's serial number matched a record from a nearby hospital, and police confirmed the identification with DNA, the paper reported.
Mejica was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes, according to the justice department. He was 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. He reportedly had several unidentified tattoos on his left and right arms and shoulders.
The cause of death is still not confirmed, according to the paper, although it seems possible that it was an accident.
The Alameda County Coroner's Office and the Alameda County Sheriff's Office did not respond to KCBS Radio's request for comment at the time of publication.
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