Body found in Maryland creek during student service outing

(FOX 5 DC)

A group of University of Maryland students made a gruesome discovery Saturday morning, finding a body during a community cleanup.

The students, who were taking part in an event called Good Neighbor Day, were collecting trash in Indian Creek in Berwyn Heights accompanied by a park ranger.

Freshman Abigail Peters discovered the body as she was in the water wearing waders near Berwyn Road and 55th Avenue.

"I was kind of in shock," Peters said. "I think we all were. They were about five girls who kind of helped me try to identify what it was, we weren't really sure."

At first, Peters thought what she saw was just a jacket.

"I asked a few of my friends to help me try and pull it out because it was stuck," Peters said. "Unfortunately, it was too heavy for us. I pulled back some of the fabric, and I discovered that there was a very white object underneath."

Still unsure, she touched it with her gloved hand.

"After moving it around a little bit, it started to have an odor, so that kind of hit me," she said. "I talked to the park ranger and told him to call the police."

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