Federal Way police are investigating the suspicious death of a pit bull puppy that a Weyerhaeuser security guard found in a field near the campus on Sept. 5.

The 4-month-old female was discovered suffocated inside a crate that was wrapped in a “heavy, blue, quilted moving pad-type blanket,” according to the police report. Someone drove a knife blade through the blanket that was firmly affixed to the ground with a folding knife, the report continues.

Police believe the puppy died of a heat stroke and/or suffocation, as temperatures reached 88 degrees that day.

The security guard reported that he found the crate almost directly in the middle of the field along Interstate 5, a popular area for dog walkers.

The red-colored puppy was wearing a black and silver nylon and metal slip-type collar. She was not microchipped.

The responding officer noted that “it appeared perhaps someone had sat with the puppy on the blanket while it died, or the dead puppy had been brought out to the field and the blanket used to partially cover the kennel.”

Due to the presence of fresh urine and feces, and that the dog’s body had not set into full rigor mortis yet, the officer also noted “it appeared the puppy had either died inside the kennel or been placed in it immediately after death.”

Police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said the pit bull will undergo a necropsy to determine its cause of death and the investigation is ongoing.