Police said the owner of the house found the body inside the rental home where former KIRO radio personality Mike Webb lived before he disappeared in April, but it is impossible to tell whether the body is that of Webb.

"The body is badly decomposed at this time," said Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz. "We can't determine the person's gender, age, race, and that all will not be able to be determined until we work with the King County Medical Examiner's Office to determine all of that."

Webb was last seen on April 13 and has been reported missing since. Metz said Webb's family and friends, as well as police officers, had been to his house in recent weeks. He said how and when the unidentified victim died is still a mystery.

"The only thing we can classify right now is a suspicious death," Metz said.

The property owner, David Neth, said he found the body while clearing out a crawl space in the home. He said the body was underneath a blue tarp, and he immediately called police.

"There were 2 other unusual items in the crawl space where the body was found that seemed very strange to me but I do not want to talk about them at this point," Neth said in an e-mail.

Webb, 52, hosted a liberal talk show on KIRO-AM/710 radio for 10 years. He was fired in December of 2005 when he was being investigated for insurance fraud.

The charges against Webb stemmed from a 2005 car wreck that caused about $6,000 in damage to Webb's Lexus when an uninsured driver hit it. King County prosecutors argued successfully that Webb bought a comprehensive insurance plan the day after the crash and filed a claim for the damage.

Webb's trial was thrown out after jurors saw Webb in the midst of a nervous breakdown outside the Seattle courthouse. He later spent 30 days at an inpatient mental health facility.

In a truncated second trial, Superior Court Judge Julie Spector found Webb guilty of felony insurance fraud and sentenced him to 240 hours of community service.

Spector also ordered Webb to continue mental health treatment for an unspecified condition.

Webb was convicted of fraud charges earlier this year, but in an interview with the Seattle P-I denied any wrongdoing and claimed the evidence against him was fabricated as part of a conspiracy.

According to the missing-person report, Webb's family was concerned for his safety because he had recently been spending time with a "shady character" that had previously taken a car from Webb. Police declined to release the individual's name. The missing-person report also notes that Webb was in a doctor's care.

In the days following his disappearance, Webb's family members received several text messages from Webb's cell phone but did not speak with him, according to police documents.

Webb said in February that the felony conviction and his firing from KIRO turned his life "upside down." All that kept him going, he said, was making nightly broadcasts online at mikewebb.org.

"The one thing that's been a salvation for me is that show that I've done every night," Webb said in February.

Webb's voice has been missing from the Web site since mid-April. A notice has been posted on the site to tell fans Webb is missing.