Days after a man’s body was found hanging from a tree near a Northern California freeway, authorities discovered a woman dead while performing a welfare check related to the investigation, police said Thursday.
The California Highway Patrol began investigating after the deceased man was found with a rope tied around his neck along an 80 Freeway embankment, near Roseville and Citrus Heights, last Saturday night, according to authorities.
As part of the investigation, CHP officers were sent to conduct a welfare check on a female at a home in the 7400 block of Auburn Oaks Court in Citrus Heights on Wednesday afternoon.
Officers arrived at the residence and found a woman dead, the Citrus Heights Police Department said in a statement.
CHP alerted police to the suspicious death and the department took over the investigation. Detectives believe the woman was the victim of a homicide, according to police.
“It is unconfirmed at this time, if the CHP death investigation from January 11, 2020, is connected to the homicide investigation,” the statement read.
The woman has not yet been identified.
Authorities also have not released the man’s name, saying only that he was 59 years old, according to KTLA sister station KTXL.
His death is being investigated as a suicide, the Sacramento-area television station reported.
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call Citrus Heights police at 916-727-5524.