No foul play suspected

ALBERT LEA — A body found in a wooded area in western Albert Lea earlier this month has been identified as a 52-year-old Owatonna man.

Albert Lea police announced Wednesday that the medical examiner identified the man through dental records as Randall James Ballstadt.

Police have not revealed the cause of death but said the autopsy did not find any suspicious injuries, and foul play is not suspected.

Police haven’t released information on why the man was in Albert Lea.

Ballstadt was found Sept. 1, after a resident on the 100 block of Will-O-Bruce Drive reportedly smelled an odor behind his home and found the corpse.

The body, which was severely decomposed, was taken to the Minnesota Regional Medical Center in Hastings, according to police.

Will-O-Bruce Drive is in the Garden Villa subdivision west of Graceland Cemetery, across West Main Street from the Albert Lea Family YMCA.