LAS VEGAS — The remains of a longtime freelance writer in Las Vegas were found last week inside a container at a downtown business, authorities said.

Las Vegas police said in a news release that they discovered the body of Matthew Kelemen, 56, on May 20 while responding to a report “of a foul-smelling odor” coming from the container.

Kelemen’s cause and manner of death were still under investigation, the coroner’s office in Las Vegas said Tuesday.

Police said they identified Kelemen’s 63-year-old roommate as the suspect in his death. But the suspect died last week after crashing during a high-speed car chase involving the Utah Highway Patrol, police said.

The car chase was unrelated to the investigation into Kelemen’s death, police said, but the department didn’t further elaborate in its news release. It also hasn’t identified the type of business where Kelemen’s body was found or a possible motive. Kelemen’s sister, Mikki Zaferatos, said her brother had been planning to move out of the room he was renting in a house also occupied by the suspect.

— The Associated Press