UPDATE: On May 14, 2021, police issued a news release and said an autopsy determined the man was a victim of homicide. They did not disclose how he died but identified him as 55-year-old Allan Freed.
Edmonton homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man whose body was found near downtown Wednesday.
Edmonton police said officers responded to a report of a man’s body being located in the area of 93 Street and 105 Avenue at around 12 p.m.
READ MORE: Edmonton police lay murder charge in death of 18-year-old man in north end
Robert Scherbluk lives in the area. He said on Tuesday night he noticed a small dog inside a van that was parked outside the building.
“I figured I’d wait until morning. If somebody came and got it I’d be happy. Morning came and it was still there,” Scherbluk said Wednesday.
He went for a walk and came back around 10:30 a.m. and said the dog was still in the van so he decided to call the fire department.
“The dog started making some weirder noises so I decided to see if maybe one of the doors might be open and I opened up the side door and looked in and saw the dog between this man’s legs and there was blood all over his legs,” Scherbluk said.
Fire crews arrived on scene within minutes and police arrived a short time later, Scherbluk said.
“They’ve been going door to door pretty much all afternoon,” he said of police. “Hopefully they can find out who this man was.”
Scherbluk said while “there’s a lot of bad elements in this area,” residents were on edge.
“A lot of people are worried. They’re kind of scared that it’s happening right here… It’s so close to home.”
Scherbluk said he believes the van had been parked in the area for a couple of days. He didn’t recognize the victim.
Police said the death is being treated as suspicious and the homicide section is investigating, but no other details have been released about the investigation or the victim.
READ MORE: Edmonton autopsy determines man’s death was homicide
An autopsy has not yet been scheduled.