Why a body stayed uncovered downtown during rush hour

INDIANAPOLIS — The potential crime scene was hard to miss if you were downtown Monday afternoon.

Around 4:35 p.m., police say a 31-year-old man jumped from the top floor of a parking garage in the 100 block of South Illinois Street to the sidewalk below.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the case is being investigated as a suicide.

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But in the moments immediately after the man's death, it was unclear whether he jumped or foul play was involved. As police and other first responders worked to learn more, rush-hour foot and vehicle traffic began to move through the area.

For about 30 minutes, the man remained on the sidewalk, uncovered, until his body was moved by officials from the Marion County coroner's office. Police used crime tape and vehicles to establish a perimeter but were unable to shield the view from everyone who passed by.

Many of those passersby took photos of the man's body with cellphones. A few could be overheard talking about it while showing the images to friends and co-workers downtown.

Some questioned why the body wasn't covered with so many people in the area. Although officials are sensitive to those concerns, they say it's not as simple as just placing a sheet or screen over the deceased.

In fact, doing so prematurely could jeopardize their entire investigation.

"The body always being covered up ... that’s a TV thing. In reality, it’s going to depend upon the type of crime. And oftentimes you don’t know what it is when you get there, so you risk the chance of destroying evidence," said Mike Medler, director of the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency, also known as the crime lab.

"In the DNA world, the potential to cross-transfer DNA evidence or any trace evidence from one place to another is really pretty great ... so if there is any potential for foul play, people need to err on the side of ensuring that the evidence is protected first," he said. "Then the visual issue of who sees what and where ... you tend to that and try to do what you can so people don’t have to see it."

Sgt. Kendale Adams said that in situations like the one Monday afternoon, officers first on the scene don't have the equipment or the authority to cover or shield a body. That is a decision made after a discussion involving all of the lead investigators and the nature of the investigation can be determined.

Medler said even if it is decided that screening should be used to cover a body, officials deploying those screens must do so in a manner that will keep the crime scene intact.

The dimensions of the crime scene also play a major role, he said. In a tight area like a downtown street, it becomes more difficult to keep the public at bay.

"If we have a house that has a death in it with suspected foul play, if we can cordon the whole block off, then that’s great. But you can't do that because the public isn’t going to stand for that. They have to get in and out of houses, and they have to get down the street," Medler said. "You move this to a rural area where you’ve got a body found on a county road, generally you can cut that county road off a mile each way."

But Medler said he understands when the public calls for victims to be covered, and Indianapolis officials want to do all they can to shield these scenes from the eyes of residents. In the past few years, Medler said, his agency has purchased a number of tents and screens for that purpose, some of which can be set up in a matter of minutes.

"We want to protect the public as much as we can," he said. "Of course, we live in a world where everybody has an iPhone and everyone thinks they have to look. Why look if you don’t have to? But there seem to be a lot of folks who do look, and if it's out there in public view, sometimes you can't help that."

Follow Justin L. Mack on Twitter: @justinlmack