The Sunnyvale Sun

News

Public's help sought in case of body found at SMaRT station

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety is seeking information about Kelley Daniel, 50, a Caucasian woman whose body was found on a conveyor belt at the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer Station on Tuesday.

According to Lt. Dave Pitts, Daniel's body was found inside the station at 6 a.m., shortly after the station began daily operations.

Little is known about Daniel, other than that she was a transient from the San Jose area.

All processes inside the station were immediately halted, but Sunnyvale communications officer John Pilger said the station was back up and running at full capacity by afternoon.

Pilger and Pitts would not comment on the state the body was in when it was found, although Pilger did confirm it was intact on the conveyor belt.

Although the garbage that the woman was in could have been collected in any of the three cities, Sunnyvale officers are handling the case because the body was found here.

City officials said it is likely the body was brought into the station in a garbage truck after being deposited in a dumpster or garbage can.

"That part of the facility is not a place we consider generally open to the public," Pilger said.

The SMaRT Station is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 301 Carl Road at the north end of Sunnyvale. While much of the waste that enters the facility does so in Green Team/Zanker vehicles, residents can drop recyclables and other waste there during the day.

The Sunnyvale "SMaRT Station," as it is known, is managed by Green Team/Zanker, which contracts with the city of Sunnyvale, and handles garbage and recycling for Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Pitts said the department is treating the case as a homicide until evidence suggests otherwise.

Anyone with information on the case or Daniel is asked to call Department of Public Safety investigators at 408.730.7120.