Mummified body found in convention center wall

OAKLAND, Calif. — Police in California are trying to find out more details surrounding the identity of a person whose mummified remains were found in a wall of a convention center.

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A construction worker discovered the partially decomposed body in the wall of the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, California, on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said that they believe that the person’s remains had been encased in the wall for several years and had mummified. Officials did not say which wall the body was found in, KGO reported.

They are not sure how old or who the person was.

Law enforcement said the body “appears to be a man,” KGO reported.

The convention center, which opened in 1914, is owned by the city but has been closed since 2005, KGO reported. In 2015, the city council agreed to lease it to a developer that was going to turn it into a commercial area with a performing arts venue, the AP and KTVU reported.

It had been a popular venue in the area, hosting graduations, performances by entertainers such as James Brown, the Grateful Dead and Elvis Presley, and speeches by Louis Farrakhan and Martin Luther King Jr., KGO reported.

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