Oshkosh Police conduct death investigation after missing homeless man found deceased

A Winnebago County Highway Department member waved down a Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputy Tuesday morning, March 3, 2026, after they found a deceased person.

The body was located in the ditch area of some long cat tails and a small area of water in between Washburn Avenue and the southbound onramp to I-41 in the City of Oshkosh.

KFIZ’s News Director Doug Raflik responded to the scene and saw officers and detectives working the scene where the body was located.

The following is a statement issued by the Oshkosh Police Department at 1:45 p.m. Tuesday…

At approximately 07:43 AM, a deceased individual was located in a drainage area south of the on-ramp to southbound Hwy 41 and W 9th Avenue in the City of Oshkosh. It appeared that the individual had been deceased for a lengthy period of time. No identification was located near or on this person. Based on numerous identifying marks, we believe that the deceased individual is Fredrick Ellis, who had previously been reported missing. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, March 5th.