A body found on the Blue Ridge Parkway was a homicide victim from Rhode Island, the National Park Service said.
Investigators on Thursday identified the victim as Josue Xavier Calderon, 33, and an obituary said he was from the town of Cumberland, which is 15 miles north of Providence, news outlets reported. Authorities haven’t said how he died.
A traveler on the parkway reported finding the body on Oct. 9 below the Yadkin Valley Overlook in Watauga County, about 100 miles northeast of Asheville. Investigators waited until after an autopsy was performed Tuesday by the North Carolina State Medical Examiner’s Office to declare the case a homicide, officials said.
On Monday, the park service squelched rumors that the body was that of Brian Laundrie, who is wanted by the FBI in connection with the death of Gabby Petito. FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch told the Asheville Citizen Times on Wednesday that speculations that the body was that of Laundrie are false.
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