Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo Lawrence Police investigate a man's boney found on K-10 highway at 1600 rd. on the north side of the road in the west bound lane around 8:00 am Wednesday July 9, 2014. The body was reported by a diver around 6:00 am.

Nathan Thurman, 37, had been staying at the Lawrence Community Shelter a little over a week before he was found dead without any obvious signs of trauma along Kansas Highway 10 early Wednesday morning.

Just after 6 a.m., a construction worker heading to begin his day at the construction site at VenturePark, the city’s future business park on the easternmost side of Lawrence, called dispatchers to report a man’s body lying on the side of the westbound lanes east of O’Connell Road near the intersection of K-10 and East 1600 Road, Lawrence Police Department spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said.

Emergency responders arrived on the scene shortly after the call and discovered Thurman, who would be identified later Wednesday, lying perpendicular to the road, his head nearest K-10 and his feet, clad in boots, pointing toward the VenturePark construction site. Medics declared him dead at the scene.

About 200 yards of police tape blocked off two lanes of westbound K-10 traffic from around 7 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. as investigators worked the scene. A blue tarp could be seen from the roadway, shielding drivers in the one open lane from viewing Thurman’s body.

Early on in the investigation, McKinley said that Thurman’s body did not have any obvious signs of trauma and that foul play was not suspected. Even though he was found at the side of the road, it appeared to police that a vehicle was not involved with Thurman’s death.

That portion of K-10 has been known as a place to walk into town from the Douglas County Jail or the Lawrence Community Shelter, police said. On Wednesday morning, Lawrence Community Shelter Executive Director Steven Robinson said the shelter conducted a bed check and discovered that one person — a white male — was missing. That person was later identified as Thurman.

Thurman began staying at the shelter on July 1, said the shelter’s assistant executive director, Brian Blevins. Blevins said the shelter was not aware of any medical issues that Thurman had and that he appeared to be a healthy individual.

“It was a shock and surprise when we found out,” Blevins said. “This is never a good thing to hear.”

Matt Kliewer, a night manager at the shelter, said Thurman was “incredibly helpful” during his stay. He volunteered to wash dishes “far past” the dinner service and got along “really well” with other guests. Kliewer could not say where Thurman came from or if he left behind any family, but also said Thurman was a wonderful piano player.

“He was a really helpful and nice guest,” Kliewer said. “We never had any problems with him.”

Thurman’s body was found about one mile from 3655 North 1360 Road, where the community shelter is located. Blevins said shelter residents usually opted to take a bus rather than walking along the route.

“We give them bus passes; they don’t usually walk,” Blevins said. “The buses quit about 8 p.m., though. If they wanted to go out after that, then they would have to go by foot.”

Another shelter employee, Shine Adams, said it is his experience that guests of the shelter typically use East 25th Terrace as the most common and comfortable route to and from downtown Lawrence.

The shelter moved to its current location about four miles from downtown Lawrence in December of 2012 to accommodate more people in the new facility. Before that, the shelter had been located in town at 214 W. 10th St. and had a capacity of only 75, instead of the current 125.

An autopsy was being performed on Thurman’s body around 5 p.m. Wednesday at Frontier Forensics Midwest, LLC in Kansas City, Kan. McKinley said the Douglas County Coroner’s Office often contracts with Frontier Forensics to conduct autopsies. Police say Thurman’s next of kin have been notified and there was no indication Wednesday evening of concerning the cause of death.