Body in a tote

Fore Note: The body was found on Pawpaw Plains Road just over the Loudon County line.

Body in a tote: Roane County authorities treating discovery as homicide, but many questions linger

Joshua Bateman's body was found the afternoon of Jan. 2 off a Roane County road.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. WBIR.COM— There's no doubt the circumstances of Joshua Bateman's death are unusual. He was found stuffed in a blue tote along a Roane County road.

But is it a homicide?

"We're treating it as a homicide, but we're still investigating it to figure out if it is or not," said Chief Deputy Tim Hawn of the Roane County Sheriff's Office.

Someone out walking property the afternoon of Jan. 2, a Sunday, along Paw Paw Plains Road discovered the blue tote containing the 35-year-old Virginia man's body, according to Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Boduch.

The location is near the Loudon County line.

Bateman's last known address was in Fairfax, Va., in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Hawn said Roane County sheriff's authorities were "knee-deep" in the investigation and awaiting testing results from the Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville, where the body was taken for study.

"We know as much right now as we did that night," Hawn said.

Bateman had several distinctive tattoos and a wallet that helped with identification, said Boduch, who went to the scene when the tote was found maybe 20 or 30 feet from the road.

He described the large container as the kind a person could purchase at a Lowe's or a Home Depot.

Boduch said he hoped by early April that authorities might have more complete answers about Bateman's death.

Hawn said he couldn't talk about Bateman's body because that remains part of the investigation, which he doesn't want to compromise.

Gentry Griffey Funeral Home in Knoxville posted a brief notice of Bateman's death on Jan. 28.

The funeral home said family members from out of state didn't want to provide any more information.