'Body' found on Duquesne hillside turns out to be hoax

Some utility workers received quite a scare Friday morning when they discovered what appeared to be a body over a steep hillside at the Duquesne Place Drive apartment complex.

Instead it turned out be a silicone replica.

According to a Duquesne Police Facebook post, patrol officers arrived shortly after 7:30 a.m. and requested assistance from Duquesne Police detectives along with Allegheny County Homicide Unit and Crime Scene Investigators. After a section of fence was removed, investigators could see what appeared to be the body of a teenage girl over the hill.

“Police used ropes to lower detectives over the hill and they observed that this body had a plastic bag tied over the head and the hands were tied behind the back with rope,” the post said. “The body was brought to the top of the hill and at that point it was determined that the body was a life-like silicone replica that had been staged to mimic a homicide.”

The Duquesne Police Facebook post concluded with, “although the hoax was a waste of resources, (we) are thankful this was not a senseless murder of a child.”

There was no word on whether the incident is being investigated further.

Calls to the Duquesne Police and Allegheny County Homicide Unit were not immediately returned.