The state medical examiner’s doing an autopsy today on the body of a woman found dead in a motel room in Coralville. Police Chief Barry Bedford says she was found Thursday afternoon and is identified as 37-year-old Susan Jean Perkins of Cedar Rapids.
"There wasn’t any obvious trauma or anything," the chief says, "so we are just being cautious." Upon finding the body, the chief says they called in the Department of Criminal Investigation for help.
"We don’t really know what we have yet," Bedford says, so it may or may not be a crime scene. He says in such a case they always assume the worst, "and that way you cover all your bases."
The discovery was a surprise to workers at the Coralville Motel Six. Bedford says the maid went to clean the room and discovered the body of a woman who had checked in the night before. They called police a little before two Thursday afternoon. While the autopsy’s being done today, some test results may take days or weeks, and the chief says they have their work cut out for them with no obvious clues in the woman’s death.
That’s why he’s asking for help from the D.C.I. "Everybody assumes that if the DCI’s involved you’ve got a murder, and we’re just being cautious."