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This story was updated on Sunday.

A man was found dead near a creek in Northeast D.C. on Saturday morning in a case D.C. police say could be a homicide.

The man was later identified as 56-year-old Leroy Studevant of Northeast, DC. He was pronounced dead by a member of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

On Sunday, January 1, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death as homicide. The cause of death was ruled as strangulation associated with piercing blunt force trauma.

Because the cause of death was determined on Sunday, this death is counted as the first homicide in 2012. The District of Columbia ended the year 2011 with 108 homicides -- if this one counts as being a 2012 homicide.

The body was found at about 8 a.m. near the 4200 block of Hunt Place NE, a short distance from a set of Orange Line Metro tracks.

Police officials would only say that the man was suffering from trauma to the body, but sources tell ABC7 News that the victim was found with a chain belt around his neck and possibly suffering from stab wounds.

The investigation is ongoing.