Body found in Catawba Co. woods identified as Charlotte 19-year-old

HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba County Sheriff's Office has identified the body of a man found last weekend just south of Hickory.

Deputies said a man was pulling into his driveway on River Road around 9:30 a.m. Saturday when he noticed the body in the nearby woods.

Investigators said the body didn't have any kind of ID or cellphone. Sheriff Coy Reid said he had to make the difficult decision to release autopsy photos of the teenager, hoping someone would recognize him on social media.

"I did have mixed feelings about letting the media have a picture from the autopsy, but at this point I felt like I needed to because we had absolutely zero in identifying this man," Reid said.

Deputies said a family member identified the body as 19-year-old Marco Eleocadio, of Charlotte. He was last seen alive Friday going to work at his landscaping job.

The sheriff did not say how the 19-year-old died or a motive in the case.

The Catawba County Sheriff's Office is working closely with Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to solve the case.

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Cox Media Group