June 20th, 2017 by WCBC Radio
State police investigators received positive identification of an individual whose decomposed body was found in an embankment off of a dirt road in Allegany County on April 21, 2017.
The victim is identified as Ariel Arnaldo Espinal, 27, of Washington, D.C. Espinal was reported missing from the Washington, D.C. area on October 8, 2016. The Missing Persons Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department took the initial report.
At 9:15 p.m. on Friday, April 21, 2017, investigators from the C3I and the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded to Hoop Pole Road in Little Orleans, Maryland after being contacted by . campers in the area who discovered the deceased body. The body was found approximately 15-20 feet from the road, down an embankment that was approximately eight feet high. State Police crime scene technicians and Homicide Unit investigators immediately responded to the scene to begin the investigation.
The body, which was clothed, showed possible trauma and was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. Due to the decomposition, medical records and x-rays were required to obtain a positive identification.
The investigation is ongoing and is being conducted by troopers from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit, with assistance from the State Police Criminal Enforcement Division, Forensic Sciences Division, and investigators from C3I.
State Police investigators will be continuing their investigation. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Cumberland Barrack at 301-729-2101.
.jpg)
