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09.10.2013 | SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield police cruiser was stationed on the grounds of Northstar Disposal after the discovery of a body Tuesday morning.

(George Graham | The Republican)

3:25 p.m. UPDATE:

Detectives have identified the victim as 55-year-old Jose Gonzalez of Springfield.

Sgt. John M. Delaney said detectives determined that the recycling truck picked the body up from the Dumpster in back of the Peter Pan bus terminal at 1776 Main St.

Surveillance video showed the victim drinking alcohol near the Dumpster around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and then crawling inside.

Delaney said detectives are treating the case as an “unattended death” and that there is no evidence of foul play.

SPRINGFIELD -- Police are probing the discovery of a body found Tuesday morning among a truckload of cardboard delivered for recycling at a Guion Street facility after the vehicle made stops within the city and in several surrounding communities.

With an autopsy scheduled later today, police said an initial examination of the body by investigators revealed no outward indication of foul play or external injuries.

Workers at Northstar Disposal, 89 Guion St., made the grisly discovery shortly before 9:30 a.m. as they sorted through the cardboard that the truck had just unloaded onto a conveyor belt, Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

Earlier in the morning the truck made pickups in Springfield, Chicopee, Agawam and West Springfield, Delaney said, adding that the body could have come from any one of those communities.

Delaney said the deceased is a white or Hispanic male. The man's cause of death, his identity, and even approximate age is not yet known, Delaney said.

City and state police detectives have been carefully processing the scene, working their way through the scraps of cardboard to search for evidence, said Delaney, aide to Commissioner William Fitchet.

“It's like an excavation,” Delaney said. “They have to preserve the evidence if there is foul play. It’s painstaking, (the cardboard) has to be taken off bit by bit.”

Delaney said detectives are considering the possibilities that the victim fell asleep inside a Dumpster and lost his life when the truck picked up the cardboard and compacted it, or that the man died of an overdose or other cause before the truck came around.

He said police are checking with their counterparts in Chicopee, Agawam and West Springfield to see if any missing persons reports have been filed. Sometimes, Delaney said, it can take several days for such reports to be filed.

The plant has ceased operations as detectives probe the scene, Delaney said, adding that employees are cooperating with police.

This is a developing story. Details will be added as our reporting continues.

The headline and article were changed at 1:55 p.m. to correct "Westfield" to "West Springfield"