More than two weeks after finding a body in Wheaton Regional Park, investigators still are trying to identify the man, who they say died by homicide as long as nine months ago.
The man was about 5 feet 2 inches and 126 pounds, according to Montgomery County police. He was Hispanic with short, dark brown hair and a missing bottom tooth that might have been visible when he spoke or smiled.
He was killed by members of a gang, State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Wednesday. Sometime likely between last December and March, he was dismembered and decapitated and left in the Wheaton park.
On Friday, police released photos of his clothes and personal belongings that were found on his body in the hope that it would help someone recognize him.
The items include a large, gray sweatshirt—now brown and tattered—with a “First United Methodist Church Laurel” logo on its chest. There are also large, blue athletic shorts with the number “19.” Police included an image of the shorts as they were found, discolored by dirt, and a representation of how they originally looked.
The man had a rosary on him, with several beads missing.
Police believe he may have been from the Annapolis area.
His body was found the night of Sept. 5 in the park at 11715 Orebaugh Ave. Police have not specified where in the park the body was, but police tape surrounded a culvert near the park’s miniature train station that week.
A second body was found in another Silver Spring park the day after, in what McCarthy said was also a gang killing. Cristopher Alfredo Funes Guerra, 20, from Silver Spring, was found in a stream near Long Branch-Arliss Neighborhood Park.
Police have asked anyone with information about the body in Wheaton to call detectives at 240-773-5070 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Solvers of Montgomery County at 866-411-8477. Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest or indictment in the case.
Images via MCPD.