Police investigate death of Mfantsipim student found in uncompleted Cape Coast building

Police in Ghana are investigating the death of a final-year student of Mfantsipim School whose body was found in an uncompleted building at North OLA in Cape Coast.

The deceased has been identified as Emmanuel Arthur, according to the Central Regional Police Command.

Police said the discovery was made after a carpenter working at the site reported the incident at about 17:30 GMT on the same day.

According to a statement from the command, the carpenter told officers he had earlier visited the uncompleted building where he was working at about 16:45 GMT and found the decomposed body of a male believed to be around 17 years old.

He is said to have found the body hanging from a cloth inside the structure.

Police officers who attended the scene confirmed the discovery and documented it as part of initial investigations.

A search of the area led to the recovery of a black backpack containing a 2026 Geography Paper One mock examination paper bearing the name of Emmanuel Arthur, a Form Three student of Mfantsipim School.

A mobile phone and other personal belongings were also retrieved from the scene.

The police said photographs were taken to support ongoing investigations.

Authorities later contacted Mfantsipim School, which confirmed that the deceased was a final-year student.

The family of the student has since been informed.

A pathologist at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital confirmed that the body was in an advanced state of decomposition.

The Environmental Health Directorate of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly was subsequently called in to fumigate the scene before the body was released to the family.

Due to the condition of the remains, the family proceeded with burial shortly after the body was handed over.

Police say investigations are continuing.