Brunswick police are calling on the public for help in identifying the body of a man who had a catheter bag strapped to his leg when found dead last week.

Detective Sgt. Martin Rinaldi said the cause of death does not appear to be suspicious.

But the catheter bag would suggest the man was under a doctor’s care, police said. Such bags are used to collect and drain urine from the bladder and can be prescribed for a number of different medical conditions.

“I’ve been told it’s not very common,” Rinaldi said.

The man’s body was discovered Dec. 22 at a makeshift campsite along railroad tracks near the Merrymeeting Shopping Plaza in Brunswick by a person who was taking a walk while his car was being repaired.

Rinaldi said the State Medical Examiner’s Office told him that the level of decomposition made it difficult to determine exactly how long the man had been dead.

“They told me it could have been anywhere from one week to several weeks,” Rinaldi said.

The medical examiner has determined the cause of death, but for the time being has decided not to disclose it, Rinaldi said.

Rinaldi, who is leading the investigation, said he has contacted homeless shelters with no success.

Brunswick police described the man as a white male, approximately 50 to 65 years of age. He was 5 feet-7 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds. He had salt-and-pepper dark hair with a light beard and mustache.

He was wearing tan pants, a brown knit hat, black work boots and two fluorescent orange sweatshirts under a dark, tan coat.

The man had set up a makeshift camp consisting of tarps in a wooded area off the Bath Road.

Anyone with information about the man’s identity is asked to contact Rinaldi at 725-6623, ext. 162.

In April 2003, a surveyor for Central Maine Power Co. discovered skeletal remains near railroad tracks off Church Road in Brunswick. Police said the person had been camping under a pine tree.

Though the body was badly decomposed, the state police crime lab used DNA samples and a prescription bottle found at the campsite to identify the remains as belonging to 48-year-old James Michael Martin of Freeport.

Martin had been reported missing by his wife about 15 months prior to his body being found.

There was no evidence of foul play.

 

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at dhoey@pressherald.com