A member of the Lockport Police Department walks into a wooded area south of Market Street on Thursday. The car in the foreground belongs to County Coroner Ken Lederhouse. (ENP FILE PHOTO)

By +Scott Leffler 
scott.leffler@eastniagarapost.com

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Lockport Police Department detectives believe they have learned the identity of the body found Thursday afternoon on Market Street.

While police won't release the man's name, they said there's reason to believe it is the man they think it is — and have reached out to his family.

An autopsy was being done today to determine cause of death to the man who was found around 1:53 p.m. Thursday afternoon by city workers about 100 yards south of Market Street behind WideWaters Drive-In Restaurant.

The water department employees were working on a sewage drain when the came across the body in the wooded area. LPD arrived on scene and observed a deceased male lying in the wooded area. They were later joined by the Niagara Falls Police Department's Crime Scene Unit and the Lockport Fire Department.

Det. Todd Chenez said that the case was still being treated as a homicide, although it's possible that will change following the autopsy. All cases of found bodies are treated as homicides to begin with, until the department rules that scenario out.

County Coroner Ken Lederhouse said Thursday that it appeared that the man's body had "been there a while."

Once the investigation is complete, further information will be available.

RELATED LINK: 
LPD investigating dead body on Market Street

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