Detectives removed a decomposing body that was found inside a column at a supermarket in Lancaster. Kim Tobin reports for the NBC4 News at 5 on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. (Published Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018) 
 
 The coroner's office Tuesday released the name of a man whose decomposing body was found stuck inside a brick pillar at a Lancaster supermarket. 
 
 The body of Raymundo Rivera, 35, was found about 2:40 p.m. Saturday inside a pillar at Winco Foods, according to the Los Angeles county coroner's office and sheriff's department. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon, the manager of the store on the 700 block of West Avenue K reported a strong smell from the column. He called a repairman thinking it was some type of sewer leak. 
 
 A handyman and plumber began removing bricks and soon afterward, they noticed a shoe and leg inside the grocery store column. 
 
 The body was in a state of decomposition and the person's gender was unknown at the time, according to Lt. John Corina with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. 
 
 "I saw some gooey liquid and it smelled really foul ... it was oozing out of the pillar onto the pavement," one witness said. "It smelled like death." 
 
 The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is leading the death investigation. They believe it may be the body of a suspect who escaped from a traffic stop on Monday night. 
 
 The driver was pulled over for a fake license plate, crashed the car, escaped onto the Winco roof and then disappeared. 
 
 "He may have gotten inside there and gotten down to try and hide from the deputies and then couldn't get out," Corina said. 
 
 There is an access door on top of the roof and the suspect may have fallen or got stuck and was found five days later, according to the sheriff's department. 
 
 It's "one of those strange cases," Corina added. 
 
 An autopsy was pending. ||||| #breaking A horror film come to life in #lancaster after decomposing body is found inside entrance column of a supermarket.#lasd detectives believe it may be suspect who led deputies on foot chase Monday & disappeared on the roof. 
 
 The latest on investigation at 11pm @ABC7 pic.twitter.com/zfnu02RjyU — Leanne Suter (@abc7leanne) August 12, 2018 
 
 A decomposing body was found inside the entrance column of a supermarket in Lancaster on Saturday, and investigators believe it may be a chase suspect who escaped authorities earlier this week.Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives responded to a WinCo Foods store in the 700 block of West Avenue K at approximately 2:40 p.m., according to sheriff's officials.LASD Lt. John Corina said the manager of the store smelled a strong odor from the column in front of the business. He assumed it was a sewage leak and called out a plumber to check it out. The plumber and the store's handyman broke off some of the brick from the column and found a leg and shoe inside, Corina said.He added that authorities are in the process of recovering the body and identifying it. It's believed it may be a man who led deputies on a chase on Monday.Corina said the suspect ran away when the chase ended in a crash. He ran into the WinCo store and onto the roof, but deputies were not able to locate him.There is access on the roof to the fascia of the store and down into the column, Corina said."He got out of the car, ran in, ran up the steps... and somehow got on the roof, and last I heard he got away. They shut the whole thing down," described witness Henry Oliver.Investigators said after he got on the roof, they didn't see or hear any signs of the suspect and assumed he had managed to escape. Detectives said he hasn't been heard from since."He may have gotten inside there and somehow gotten down the column, trying to hide from the deputies and then couldn't get out," Corina said.The coroner will have to determine exactly how the victim died. It's unclear if he fell to his death or became trapped and couldn't get out.Some seasoned investigators were left in shock."It's been over 100 degrees up here everyday. I cant imagine being inside that column and just baking. It's a strange development, and if he died that way, it's a horrible way to die," Corina added.The store was expected to stay closed as the investigation continued and as crews worked to extricate the body.Anyone with information was encouraged to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477). ||||| LANCASTER (CBSLA) — Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Detectives were dispatched to a Lancaster business following reports that a body was found just outside the premises — in a pillar. 
 
 Officials said the body of an adult male was found after a store manager complained about a strong smell Saturday morning. 
 
 A plumber was called and a couple of bricks were broken to look inside the pillar. 
 
 “When they did that,” says LA County Sheriff’s Homicide Department spokesman Lt. John Corina, “they looked down and they could see a shoe and a leg down there at the bottom of the column – inside the column.” 
 
 The grim discovery was made around 2:40 p.m. officials said. The business — a WinCo supermarket — is located in the 700 block of West Avenue K in Lancaster. 
 
 KCAL9’s Jeff Nguyen said police believe the man inside the pillar was someone law enforcement was chasing Monday and lost. 
 
 They believed that man ran into the WinCo and believe at some point he must have gotten into the crawl space before falling into the pillar. 
 
 Witness Henry Oliver said he saw the suspect run into the WinCo. 
 
 “He got out of the car, ran in, ran up the steps where the managers [are.],” Oliver said. “And somehow he got on the roof. Last I heard he got away.” 
 
 The Sheriff’s department says deputies lost their chase suspect after he got on the roof and they never saw him come out of the store. 
 
 “We’re thinking this could possibly be that individual,” says Lt. Corina. 
 
 Earlier in the day, customers were turned away from the store. 
 
 “My concern was everybody in the store okay?,” asked Constance Fullwood. She was glad to learn the person was not an employee. 
 
 “It’s very emotional,” she said, “Because I shop here at least four times a month.” 
 
 The person found dead was not an employee of the store adding conjecture that the victim was indeed the chase suspect. 
 
 Detectives say there’s an access door at the top of the roof which also goes to the front fascia of the store. 
 
 Nguyen reported that the man in the pillar was found standing on both his feet but one of his arms was trapped behind his head. 
 
 Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. 
 
 If you prefer to remain anonymous you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477),
– A strong smell outside a California supermarket turned out to be someone who had decomposed in one of the store's entrance columns, ABC 7 reports. Police were called Saturday to the WinCo Foods in Lancaster after a plumber, told it was likely a septic problem, helped knock brick from the column and saw a shoe and a leg inside. "It's been over 100 degrees up here every day," says LA County Sheriff's Lt. John Corina. "I can't imagine being inside that column and just baking. It's a strange development, and if he died that way, it's a horrible way to die." Police say the victim may be a man who was stopped for a fake license plate Monday night, NBC Los Angeles reports. He crashed the vehicle, ran away from deputies, and got into the supermarket. The man "ran up the steps where the managers [are]," an eyewitness tells CBS Los Angeles. "And somehow he got on the roof. Last I heard, he got away." From up there, he could have reached the store fascia and descended into the column. Whether he died from the fall or baked inside is unclear; he was found on his feet with an arm stuck behind his head. "I saw some gooey liquid and it smelled really foul ... it was oozing out of the pillar onto the pavement," says a witness. "It smelled like death."