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Ogden police pull body from pond after someone posted a picture of it on Facebook

A now-deleted social media post on an Ogden community page prompted a slew of calls from concerned residents asking officers to investigate what turned out to be a man’s body in the city’s 21st Street Pond.

Officers pulled 51-year-old Tracy Rex Kunzler’s body from the pond, near 500 West and 17th Street, on Wednesday, though they were dispatched to the pond to investigate shortly after the person posted a photo to Facebook on Tuesday night, said Ogden Lt. Danielle Croyle.

After a preliminary investigation, police don’t believe the man’s death is suspicious. Because of the ongoing investigation, police said they can’t release information about how the man ended up in the pond or why they don’t suspect foul play.

The medical examiner will try to determine Kunzler’s cause of death.

The person apparently posted the photo to the group because he or she didn’t know whether the body was a mannequin, Croyle said.

While the post was deleted from the community page, fallout from the interest it created was still visible on the group page Wednesday. Many members appeared to take issue with the poster adding the photo to the group but not reporting it to police.

Croyle confirmed that the person who posted it didn’t attempted to contact police. Instead, she said, people who saw the post contacted police.

“Look, if you see something suspicious, or you see something of concern, you need to call [police] right away,” Croyle said.

Ogden police can be reached at 801-395-8221. For emergencies, call 911.