California Coroner Identifies Mummified Body Found In Convention Center

The "mummified body" that was discovered in between the walls of the abandoned Oakland Convention Center in March has been identified. The body was identified as 42-year-old Joseph Edward Mejica, a homeless man who had been missing since August of 2020, according to Fox News.

The Alameda County coroner was able to identify the remains by matching a serial number on a tubular plate in Meijca's leg to records at Highland Hospital, where he had surgery almost two decades ago. "It appeared [Mejica] may have fell from a higher location and became wedged in the small opening between the two walls," the coroner wrote. "Advanced decomposition was present."

His remains were found on March 9 at the Oakland Convention Center by construction workers who were helping revitalize the building, which has been closed since 2005. According to the coroner's report, Mejica's mother had called the coroner before the body was identified because she was worried it might be her son. "Mejica would often try to steal copper wiring from construction sites for money."

"We don't suspect any foul play or that he was put there. It's likely we'll never really know how he died," the Alameda County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Ray Kelly told Fox News Digital. "No one put him there as far as we can tell."