Hanging Reported At Homeless Camp On Black Hill Road In Concord: Watch

CONCORD, NH — Concord police are investigating a hanging in the woods off Black Hill Road Wednesday in a homeless camp not far from the old Concord Drive-In.

Around 4:30 p.m., Concord fire and rescue teams were sent to the camps off Manchester Street for a report of a death. Police were sent to The Friendly Kitchen on South Commercial Street and the road after receiving the report. According to dispatch, a staffer at the Kitchen received the information from an anonymous man. The man told them he found a friend hanging near their camp. They told the staffer after finding the body, they walked to the kitchen to report it to someone, according to scanner chatter.

Others also knew of the body, according to the witness, and a possible name was given to the police.

Concord fire and rescue teams arrived first and, after about 10 minutes of attempting to find the body, found the hanging and confirmed the person was dead. Police dispatch were told the person appeared to have been dead for a while.

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An officer went to the Kitchen to speak to the witness while others went to the scene. About an hour later, the officer returned to the Kitchen to watch a security video from the facility.

News 603 posted a video on Facebook of police and firefighters at the scene.

The police evidence technician van is at the scene and a medical examiner has been requested. They are expected to be there sometime before 7:30 p.m.

The site of the homeless camps and former drive-in property is slated to become housing and mixed-use development, at some point, although the project has been discussed for close to three years. Last fall, the city said there could be around 266 housing units as part of the project, which was in the predevelopment stage. The project is one of about a dozen plans to build more than 3,000 new apartments in the city in the next three to eight years.

There have been several brutal crimes at the site, including a stabbing, assaults, and domestic violence. There have also been brush fires, according to prior reports on Patch.

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