LANCASTER — A death investigation is under way in Garrard County after the body of a woman believed to have been dead for several days was found on her front porch.
Kentucky State Police spokesman Trooper Paul Blanton said the body of Angela Salata, 47, was found Tuesday afternoon on the porch of her home at 118 Ridgecrest Drive.
Garrard Coroner Daryl Hodge said Salata’s sister, who had last spoken with her over the weekend, stopped by Tuesday to see if Salata wanted to go swimming and found her body on the porch. Hodge believes Salata likely had been dead for at least two and a half days.
Ridgecrest is a subdivision off Kennedy Bridge Road, and there are other homes near Salata’s residence. However, Hodge said the body was on the floor of the porch, and bushes would have made it difficult to see from the road or surrounding houses.
According to Hodge, Salata’s two children are staying with their father in Chicago for the summer.
The level of decomposition made it impossible to determine any cause of death, Hodge said. Salata’s body was taken to Frankfort on Tuesday night for an autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office.
Blanton said the case is being handled as a death investigation.
“She did have some medical conditions that may or may not have led to her death, but we are going to have to wait on the outcome of the autopsy,” Blanton said.
KSP Detective Rodney Wren with the Richmond post is conducting the investigation.
