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Police identify man found dead on trail

Posted at 4:06 PM, Mar 14, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-14 23:38:29-04

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah – Unified Police Department officials are investigating the death of a man whose body was discovered by hikers in Ferguson Canyon on Friday afternoon.

Police later identified the man as 30-year-old Daniel Nelson and said he was last seen alive Friday at about 10 a.m.

The man was found about a mile and a half from the trailhead in Cottonwood Heights, which is located above Timberline Drive.

According to authorities, the 30-year-old male had injuries consistent with a significant fall, however, they do not believe foul play was involved.

“The officers that are on scene indicate that he’s lying at the base of a rock outcropping that’s 25-30 feet tall,” said Lt. Mark Askerlund of Cottonwood Heights Police Department.

Because of the location of the man, the case fell into the jurisdiction of Unified Police, whose detectives spent hours combing the area.

“We’re going up to the scene, to document it and collect evidence and look at the whole area and see what we have,” said Det. Ken Hansen of Unified Police Dept.