Body Found in Effingham Tuesday

The body of a Mexican citizen was found Tuesday morning in Effingham by local authorities.

Effingham city police were notified of an unresponsive male at 305 South Linden Street at about 5:45am. When officers and Rural Med EMS arrived on scene, they found the man deceased. The Effingham County Coroner's Office was contacted and responded to the scene. Bystanders verbally identified the man as 39-year-old Omar Basurto-Linares. 

County Coroner Kim Rhodes pronounced Basurto-Linares dead at 6:15am Wednesday.

Rhodes said her office did not find any identification in the apartment occupied by Basurto-Linares or on the body to positively identify the man. The body was transferred to the HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital morgue while the Coroner's Office contacted the next of kin in Mexico. 

On Wednesday, the individual was positively identified as Basurto-Linares by family members. They advised authorities that Basurto-Linares had been in the United States for about 10 years.

Preliminary information indicated Basurto-Linares' death was accidental in nature.

The incident remains under investigation by the Effingham County Coroner's Office.