48-year-old Dayton man died of positional asphyxiation

The Montgomery County Coroner's Office confirmed the identity of the deceased is 48-year-old Rodney Eric Thompson, of Dayton.

A cause of death has not been released.

UPDATE @ 10:54 p.m. Oct. 5:

Dayton homicide detectives were working a crime scene downtown after a deceased male was found in a detention ditch.

The body of the man, believed to be in his 50s, was found in an "unnatural" position, police said.

"The area's kind of remote. These particular buildings are not all occupied, so they have a little bit of work to do here to determine exactly what happened," said Dayton police Lt. Mark Ponichtera.

Police say there were no obvious signs of trauma, and that it's possible the man died of natural causes.

FIRST REPORT

An investigation is underway after a body was found Sunday afternoon in downtown Dayton.

Officers were dispatched at 4:10 p.m. after the body of a black man, possibly middle-aged, was reported found in the 300 block of West First Street. The man's identity was not released.

The death is being investigated as a possible homicide, a dispatch supervisor confirmed. However, the Montgomery County Coroner's Office will determine the cause and manner of death following an autopsy.