BCA identifies man found dead in St. Cloud park
State officials have identified the man they say was found dead in a St. Cloud park the day after he was chased by police.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) says 39-year-old David Eugene Salinas’ cause of death is still undetermined.
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St. Cloud police say he initially gave a false name to officers who responded to a report of someone possibly doing drugs in a car on April 24. Then, when officers tried to arrest him, police say he ran toward Heritage Park and police lost track of him.
His body was found in the park just before 8 a.m. the next day by a passerby.
The BCA says a preliminary autopsy report didn’t find any signs of physical trauma, hypothermia or drowning. Toxicology results are still pending.
Because of St. Cloud Police’s contact with Salinas the day before he was found dead, the BCA is handling the investigation into his death and will also review all video from officers’ body cameras from the April 24 interaction and responding to the body in the park the next day, the agency says.
The agency also says it determined that Salinas had multiple felony warrants at the time and had absconded from the Minnesota Department of Corrections, although it didn’t say what the warrants were for.