Police: Death in vehicle at shopping plaza ‘untimely’ but not suspicious

Lebanon Police patrol officers Matthew Kaufman and Nathan Snow and Lt. Richard Norris wait for the funeral home to arrive to remove a body from a car in West Lebanon, N.H., on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News — Jennifer Hauck

Staff Report

Published: 10-10-2023 9:43 PM

WEST LEBANON — Police recovered the body of a woman from a vehicle at shopping plaza in West Lebanon on Monday afternoon in what authorities characterized as an “untimely death” that did not present a danger to the public.

“We were called at 2:30 about a deceased body in a vehicle near Chili’s in the Target plaza,” Lebanon Police Chief Phil Roberts told the Valley News. “An investigation revealed no suspicious activity.”

The Monday afternoon scene attracted social media attention due to its high-visibility public location — one of the busiest spots along the heavily trafficked Route 12A shopping corridor. Police erected a tent around the vehicle as they conducted the investigation and recovery.

Roberts said the tent and other measures to obscure the vehicle were done to provide privacy for “family members who were at the scene” and to allow officers to conduct their work unimpeded.

The identity of the deceased woman was not made public by police.