Local business is concerned after a suspicious death outside a downtown Salt Lake City motel

SALT LAKE CITY — Preston Wood stopped by work on Sunday morning and “saw that there was a lot of activity going on” across the street. He could see crime scene tape around a field and police cars parked outside of the Motel 6, which sits across from his building Love Communications on 200 West, between 500 and 600 South.

He would find out: “It’s a suspicious body found.”

Salt Lake City Police Department spokesman Brent Weisberg said someone called 911 morning after finding the body in a field behind the motel.

It’s not apparent yet how this person died or how they ended up in the field.

“They’re going to conduct a very thorough and methodical investigation, trying to work back in time to piece everything together, to try to figure out who this person is, how they ended up in the field, and to see if there’s any information that can tell us how they died,” Weisberg said.

The Salt Lake City Police Department called in their homicide team to investigate.

“This body was found in an open field here in downtown Salt Lake City,” Weisberg explained. “So that itself kind of raises the hair on the back of our necks, indicating that something isn’t right here.”

We are investigating a suspicious death in downtown.

At this point, there is no threat to our community.

The cause and manner of death will be determined by the medical examiner’s office.

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— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) May 14, 2023

Wood explained that “something isn’t right” often applies across the street from his business, explaining that he often sees concerning activity at the motel.

“I’ve been here on a Sunday, and watch somebody get pulled out of a body bag,” he recalled of one instance.

His understanding is that the issues are often connected with drugs, such as overdoses. Some of those times, people have attempted to break into his business, prompting him to get security cameras.

Wood remembered at one point, he said police found a body inside a vehicle parked outside of the building.

“I was surprised that all of a sudden there’s a coroner, there’s a cops just like [today], and they’re pulling them out of the truck,” he said.

To him, this latest situation is another example of the safety issues around the motel and his business.

“It’s always a big concern for us,” Wood said, “and it’s a concern for employee safety.”

In response to Wood’s concerns, SLC PD said that the area of downtown where the body was found Sunday “is a focus area of the department, and we have devoted a lot (of) resources to this area, to include our Special Investigations Unit and Central Bike Squad.”

The department continued, “Our Central Division District Community Liaison Officer and our Business Community Engagement Officer meet regularly with the businesses downtown to hear about concerns and issues.”

SLC PD is also hoping for help from the public in piecing together what led to Sunday’s death investigation.

On Monday, police identified the deceased as 46-year-old Jennbah Tsosie. Her cause of death is still under investigation.

If anyone saw something suspicious or has surveillance video around the area along 200 West near 500 and 600 South between 10:30 p.m. Saturday to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, call them at 801-799-3000.