A dead body with a rope around its neck was found by walkers Saturday afternoon in the woods along Slippery Elm trail, located between Gypsy Lane Road and Sand Ridge Road.

Officers arrived on the scene about 3:30 p.m. and described the body as that of a male in his 40s, according to Sergeant Tony Hetrick of the Bowling Green City Police Division.

Freshman Sara Johnson was biking with her parents on the trail when two men emerged from the woods and told them they found a body.

“We were riding and were headed back toward BG and these two guys came out of the woods and said to call the cops because they didn’t have a cell phone,” Johnson said.

The family was told by the men that the body had a noose around its neck and was slumped against a tree, Johnson said.

“One of them said there looked like there was a rope around its neck,” said Sara’s mother, Bev Johnson.

The Johnsons did not go into the woods to look at the body but instead headed back to their car to call police.

“We never saw it but we smelled it, it was about 100 yards off the trail,” Sara Johnson said.

The Johnsons didn’t ask the two men much about the finding while waiting for police to arrive.

“We didn’t stop to chat, we kind of kept moving because it was uncomfortable,” Bev Johnson said. “We didn’t want to stick around and ask too many questions.”

This was the first weekend Sara’s parents had come to visit her and their first time riding the bike trail.

“They were pretty shaken up and it was a little scary,” Johnson said. “You never know how you’d react to it.”

Bev Johnson said the episode will not keep her from coming back to Bowling Green.

“What a way to be introduced to the trail,” she said. “It doesn’t stop me from visiting the park or BG.”

The incident is still under investigation, Hetrick said.