A man was found dead inside a downtown Vancouver business Wednesday, prompting detectives to launch a homicide investigation.
Police were called at 11:50 a.m. to Pacific Bullion Precious Metals, 701 Main St., where they discovered the body.
By the end of the afternoon, police said they were treating the investigation as a homicide, but didn’t have many details to release, including the victim’s name or the cause of death.
Vancouver Police Department Lt. Kathy McNicholas said that police had confirmed one fatality: an adult male.
There was no immediate word on a motive, and apparently no witnesses.
Ben Lanford, who works at the Lucky Loan pawn shop kitty-corner to the coin shop, said a passer-by walked by the store and saw a body inside, then went inside the pawn shop to have someone call 911.
The tiny shop, on the northeast corner of the street, specializes in buying and selling gold coins and bullion, as well as gemstones and jewelry. It was established in 2014.
Officers closed the streets around the scene with police tape, blocking the intersection at Main and East Seventh streets, for several hours.
Police said they are pursuing several leads in the case as they seek to find the killer.
