2 bodies discovered hours apart in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland police are asking the public for help in solving two mysterious deaths after the bodies of two people were found in different parts of the city within hours of each other.

The first body was discovered just blocks away from the cozy upscale community of Montclair, nestled in the hills of Oakland. Someone called police at about 1:30 a.m., saying there was a body on the shoulder of the onramp from Mountain Boulevard to Highway 13.

"Officers responded and found an African American female younger in age, early 20s suffering from gunshot wounds," Oakland Police Sgt. Randy Wingate said.

Then at about 10:30 a.m., police dispatchers got a call about yet another grizzly discovery, this time in east Oakland off Coliseum Way near 66th Avenue.

"An Amtrak train conductor had observed a body in a canal just off Coliseum Way," Wingate said.

This time, it was the body of a man in the muddy waters of a canal next to the Amtrak train tracks.

"It appears the subject had been there a little while, so we're still looking into it now," Oakland Police Lt. Kirk Coleman said.

Police say the body was badly decomposed and that it may have been in the canal for as long as a week. All police will say is that they are treating it as a suspicious death, pending a coroner's autopsy.

As for the body found in the hills off highway 13, police say it is a murder.

"I think the crime was committed elsewhere and the body was dumped here," neighbor Maria Depedraza said.

Longtime resident say over the years, mountain blvd has been a way station for criminals because it is so close to the freeway.

"We had a murder here about a year ago and the perpetrators have never been caught and I think it's because, given the fact Highway 13 is right around the corner," Depedraza said.

That is why merchants and residents in the community have an active neighborhood watch program, plus security cameras.

"We have our cameras up and were just trying to keep crime to a minimum,' neighborhood watch captain Angela Haller said.

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highway 13, oakland, crime, OPD, oakland coliseum, murder, east bay news, vic lee

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