Covy Moore/Rocky View Publishing

A medical examiner arrives at the scene on Township Road 261, about one kilometre southeast of CrossIron Mills mall in Balzac, where a body was found at about 10 a.m. on March 20.

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Body found near Balzac, incident described as suspicious

A body found on the side of the road near Balzac’s CrossIron Mills mall and the Nexen gas plant on March 20 has been deemed suspicious in nature.

At about 10 a.m., Airdrie Rural RCMP, Airdrie EMS and the Rocky View County Fire Services were alerted by a passer-byof a body on the side of Township Road 261, between Dwight McLellan Trail and Range Road 292.

The body was described by police as a non-white male, approximately 25-35 years of age.

“Although emergency medical services (staff) did work on this male, he was pronounced dead at the scene,” said RCMP Sgt. Patricia Neely.

“He was located at a remote area on the side of the road. It wasn’t concealed as far as I’m aware. As far as I know, he has not been identified. That would be something that would be part of the investigation and once the identification is made, we’d have to do the next of kin notification before we could release anything.”

An autopsy will be schedule for as soon as March 21 to determine the cause of death, she added.

“We don’t know how long he had been there. The injuries will be determined by the medical examiner. We have notified our RCMP Major Crimes Unit and our Forensic Identification Unit is on scene as well,” Neely said.

“Our investigation is very early in its commencement here and we don’t have much more information than that at this time. If somebody has any information that would assist us on this investigation, we would be very eager to hear from them.”