Police release name of man found under downtown Wichita bridge

Update Wednesday:

Police identified the victim as 59-year-old Bernard Woodard. Police said the man was homeless and living under the Douglas Avenue Bridge where he was found.

Original Tuesday:

Wichita police said a jogger found the body of a man in his 60s, who police believe to be homeless, under the Douglas Avenue Bridge.

“It appears as though he was beaten,” Capt. Jason Stephens said.

Police were called at around 4:45 p.m. on Monday to the bridge near Douglas and McLean. Officers found “blunt force injuries” to the man’s body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Stephens said the man could have been there as long as a day. Police said they do not have anyone in custody in connection with the case.

The man is the city’s seventh criminal homicide of 2020.

Anyone with information can call Wichita police detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something hotline at 316-519-2282 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 9:08 AM.