Police said Leonard Richard Prahl, 56, of Lakeville, Pa., was found dead Feb. 24, 2007, in a ravine along Max Blobs Park Road, where he appeared to have been for some time.

An autopsy identified Prahl by his fingerprints, and his manner of death was classified as “undetermined” due to the suspicious location of his body, police said.

Detectives learned Prahl occasionally had visited family members in the Severn area of Anne Arundel, but the investigation was stalled when those relatives said they hadn’t seen or heard from Prahl since December 2006, police said.

A break in the case came in September, when a confidential source involved in an unrelated investigation told Anne Arundel police that Prahl was murdered in Pennsylvania and his body was later dumped along Max Blobs Park Road.

Prahl’s death was reclassified as a homicide, and detectives commenced a joint investigation with Pennsylvania State Police.

The investigation remains open and police are prohibited from discussing details of the sealed court records, said Pennsylvania State Trooper Wayne Thomas.

“We cannot discuss nor disclose anything for the next 10 days to keep the secrecy of the affidavit and talk to the people we need to talk to,” Thomas said, adding that the murder does not appear to be drug- or gang-related.

Maryland court records indicate Bulow was convicted of drug possession and distribution charges in 2004 and 2006.

Anyone with information should call Pennsylvania State Police at 1-570-253-7126 or Anne Arundel detectives at 410-222-3458.

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