Body encased in ice found on Ham Lake golf course

Only a face was visible above the ice; the rest of the body was completely encased.

By ABBY SIMONS and TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: March 7, 2009 - 7:42 AM

The face of a man's body encased in ice startled groundskeepers working near the 16th hole of a north metro golf course Friday.

While checking conditions of the Majestic Oaks Golf Course in Ham Lake at about 1:15 p.m., they discovered what appeared to be a face sticking out of the ice covering a pond, said Lt. Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.

Initial reports indicated that the head had been severed, but the body appears to be intact, Sommer said Friday night. Because the body was contorted, with its head partially above the ice and body below, along with the apparent toll animals had taken, authorities were initially misled. Most of the face and head appeared to have been eaten at, exposing the throat, Sommer said. It is too early to determine an age of the victim or cause of death, although authorities suspect foul play. Other than damage to the face, the cold appears to have preserved the remainder of the body, Sommer said.

Only a portion of the body was exposed when the workers found it. The remainder was trapped in 2 feet of ice. Authorities used a steamer from the Anoka County Highway Department to remove the body from the ice so as not to damage it.

"There's no straight protocol for removing a body encased in ice, so we used the steamer rather than chipping it out," Sommer said.

The body was removed at about 8 p.m. Authorities may wait for it to completely thaw before conducting an autopsy.

The victim appeared to be a man, based on the plaid shirt he was wearing. A wallet was discovered in the person's back pocket, but remained frozen shut late Friday night.

Sommer said Friday it was too early to connect the victim to any missing person reports from north metro communities. Authorities are confident that the body was in the area before the November freeze, partly because it was completely encased in ice. Sommer also noted that there was no winter coat.

"This was not something that was lying on top and froze," he said. "It was completely encased."

Joe Schauer, director of food and beverage at the golf course, said the discovery was unsettling for employees, particularly those who found the body.

"We are pretty shaken up," he said. "We are cooperating, but we are in the dark just like everybody else. We've never had anything like this before."

Mike Armour, who owns a die-cutting business along the course's east border, said he watched maintenance crews trimming tall trees in the area Friday morning before investigators swarmed in at about 1 p.m. Armour, who knows the terrain well, described the pond as a recessed area, more like a shallow ravine that measures about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long. It's dry in the summer, he said, but it fills with water during snowfall and melt.

Armour said he remembers recently noting tire tracks in the area where, during winter, few people venture.

"What if someone knew the area?" he said. "All they'd have to do is drive straight up there, and if they dumped the body, it's just pull up and 'whoosh.'"

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768 Abby Simons • 612-673-4921