Partially decomposed body found in vacant North Toledo house

Authorities gather at 438 E. Streicher Street in North Toledo where a body was found in the basement.

A work crew contracted to clean out asbestos from a North Toledo home slated for demolition found a partially decomposed body today.

The two-man work unit was at 438 E. Streicher St., in North Toledo, when they found the body in the basement. They left the basement and reported the find at 10:52 a.m.

Police said the work duo found a blanket near the bottom of the basement stairs, kicked it out of the way, and found legs (the body, while decomposed, was intact).

Sgt. Tim Noble said officials on scene were not able to determine the race, gender, or age of the victim. For that, investigators will rely on the Lucas County Coroner's Office.

The sergeant also said the body appears to have been in the home for "an awfully long time." Police are treating the case as a homicide, as they do with all suspicious deaths, but there was no way to tell initially how the person died.

"You don't just find bodies at the bottom of the steps, so we're suspicious of that," the sergeant said.

A neighbor said the home has been vacant for about five years and has been boarded up since last summer.

Sergeant Noble could not say if there appeared to be any forced entry into the home.

This is the second decomposed body found in North Toledo this month.

A badly decomposed body was found in a North Toledo garage behind 2713 Buckeye St. on July 10. Those remains and a cause of death have not been identified.