Photo by Eric Ayre Police secure the area around a vacant and dilapidated house at 4214 Jacob St. in South Wheeling on Tuesday afternoon, when a body was found by crews demolishing the house.

WHEELING — Crews demolishing a vacant dilapidated house Tuesday in South Wheeling discovered a body while heavy equipment was being used to raze the structure.

Members of the Wheeling Police Department, the West Virginia State Police and other city agencies responded to the structure at 4214 Jacob St. just after noon Tuesday when a call was received by a crewman representing a contractor working on the demolition project.

Officials from the police department confirmed that a man’s body was found at the residence. The matter was still under investigation Tuesday afternoon, and officials would not speculate as to the cause of death.

It was unclear whether there was any evidence on the scene indicating a possible cause. Officials from the Wheeling Police Department described the situation as a “death investigation.”

Approximately one third of the house — starting from the rear of the structure — had already been demolished when the grim discovery was made.

Witnesses on the scene on Tuesday afternoon said demolition crews performed the required walk-through of the structure before demolition began, and nothing unusual was found. After workers began tearing down the house with a backhoe, the body was discovered under a pile of clothes. Police said the man’s body was found in the basement area of the house.

The body will be taken to the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification and a determination of death, officials said.

Police secured the area with police tape and called in investigators to process the scene. Officials indicated the scene was somewhat challenging for the fact that part of the structure had been demolished, and crews working the scene were unsure of how structurally stable the remaining portions of the house were.

The vacant house at 4214 Jacob St. was one of several neglected properties the city was razing as part of its $1 million demolition effort this fiscal year. This job was one of a number of South Wheeling properties being taken down and removed under the city’s fourth demolition contract — a $112,200 contract awarded to Aster Oilfield Services of Bellaire.