Bainbridge police are investigating a suspicious death after a person walking along a trail south of High School Road looking for willow branches to cut found a dead body not far from Highway 305 Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Police received an emergency call about the grim discovery at about noon.

Law enforcement authorities said a person walking along the trail near the ravine on the west side of Highway 305, south of High School Road, discovered the body in the wooded area next to the highway after first seeing a backpack on the ground.

“We had a call from a citizen; they discovered a deceased individual,” said Bainbridge Island Police Chief Matthew Hamner.

Hamner said the investigation was in its very early stages, and police could share few details.

“The coroner is on the way,” Hamner said.

The Kitsap County coroner will determine the manner and cause of death, he said.

“We can make some assumptions at this point, but we’re not going to,” Hamner said. “It’s difficult to get to where the body is. I don’t want to say that we believe something, and then find out later that it’s not accurate.”

“At this point, it appears to be an adult,” Hamner added.

Police were securing the scene just before 12:30 p.m. and had stretched yellow crime tape through the trees to block access to the trail.

Two medic units from the Bainbridge Island Fire Department were summoned to the ravine, but the crews were soon released.

A preliminary investigation was underway and police were photographing the scene.

“Right now, we’re just taking measures to ensure we don’t miss anything,” the chief said.

The scene would be processed thoroughly and completely, Hamner added, and the identity of the deceased would be released later.

“Obviously, we have someone here who has a family. Someone who has a mom, a dad, maybe some siblings; we don’t know. At this point, we want to be very sensitive and very careful. We don’t do anything that would cause any further trauma to the family,” Hamner said.

The identity of the deceased will not be released, he said, until next of kin are properly notified.

“I feel for the deceased, and the family. And the person who discovered the deceased. And the officers; these are not the type of scenes we want to go home and tell our families [about].

“But these things do happen, and as they happen, we want to make sure we are sensitive and careful,” Hamner said. “We try to make things better for those involved, and not try to make it harder. We want to be as sensitive to that as we can be.”