A 16-year-old boy was found dead in Thornden Park Friday morning by a local woman walking her dog.

The unidentified woman called Syracuse Police at 9:42 a.m. reporting she had found the boy in the snow after her dog diverted from the path they were walking on, said Lt. Joe Cecile of the Syracuse Police.

The boy was identified by police as Darnell McMullen of 4314 Wetzel Road in the town of Clay.

The police are treating the case as a possible homicide.

Cecile said McMullen had suffered physical trauma, but could not say the nature of the trauma. Police are not sure whether or not McMullen was killed at the scene or if his body was left there.

Police said McMullen’s body was found in about two feet of snow.

McMullen’s body was taken to the medical examiner several hours after he was found where he was later identified because his fingerprints were on file from a previous criminal record.

Syracuse Police blocked off the northern section of Thornden Park, where McMullen’s body was found, from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Police were seen searching the area on foot during this time.

No suspects or witnesses have been found, but Cecile said detectives have been questioning residents in the area by knocking on doors and asking if any suspicious noises were heard.

‘Detectives in the area talked to anyone who would answer their door,’ Cecile said. ‘They talked to hundreds of people.’

Published on March 6, 2005 at 12:00 pm