FBI AGENTS are on the scene of an apparent hanging by tree that was originally deemed a suicide, but sources close to the situation tell Your Content exclusively that the case has escalated to ‘suspicious deaths’ as additional bodies continue to be found.
Just after 1 p.m., the FBI joined by officers from the Oakland Police Department announced they’re investigating a noose hanging at Lake Merritt.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, police received a call at 8:20 a.m. Thursday from a community member reporting a “fake body hanging from a noose,” officials said. The caller apparently removed the effigy from a tree in the 2100 block of Lakeshore Avenue, which is next to Lake Merritt.
“When you have a string of similar cases surfacing through the United States, there are definitely concerns about a potential serial killer or cult,” a well-placed source briefed on the situation told Your Content exclusively.
“We are here to connect the dots and assist local law enforcement leave no stone unturned in this bizarre scenario. This is no longer a suicide investigation. This is now a string of suspicious persons deaths.”
Police received a call at 8:20 a.m. Thursday from a community member reporting a “fake body hanging from a noose,” officials said.
The caller apparently removed the effigy from a tree in the 2100 block of Lakeshore Avenue, which is next to Lake Merritt.
Officers responded to the scene and “observed material stuffed in the shape of a human body with a rope tied around the torso and neck, laying on the ground next to a tree with an American flag lying next to it.” Oakland police notified the FBI and both agencies are now investigating “to swiftly identify who is responsible for today’s incident,” as well as an incident Tuesday in which nooses were found hanging from several trees. “Currently both incidents are being classified as hate crimes,” officials said.
Your Content was first to report that FBI agents from the bureau’s civil rights division and the California attorney general’s office will be overseeing the Los Angeles County’s investigation into the death of a 24-year-old black man found hanging from a tree.
The coroner’s office said Fuller’s death was initially reported as an apparent suicide, but that his cause of death was being deferred pending a full autopsy, which was completed June 12, and an investigation.
The new involvement of the FBI and the attorney general’s office in Fuller’s case was announced by Sheriff Alex Villanueva at a news conference Monday.
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