Landscapers in North Carolina mistake man's body for training dummy
Police are investigating after a North Carolina man's body was mistaken for a training dummy in the front yard of an empty house and left sitting for days, even getting mowed around by a landscaping crew.
Previous details released about the discovery stated that landscapers thought the body was a Halloween prop but that has since been clarified by China Grove Police Department in a recent press release.
On Oct. 10, police received a report of a dead body at an abandoned log cabin in China Grove, North Carolina.
Upon arrival, officers discovered the body of 34-year-old Robert Owens.
During the investigation, police learned that a groundskeeper saw the body the day before while he was mowing the grass, but he "believed the body to be a fake dummy used for training by numerous law agencies on the property over the last few years" and did not report it, according to a news release from the China Grove Police Department.
Another worker at the property reported the body to authorities.
"Don't know how you can do that," Owens' sister, Haley Shue, told Queen City News. "Mow right beside someone and assume that they're a Halloween decoration at a house no one lives at."
“My grandmother has lived off of Shue Road for 40-plus years,” Shue told Queen City News, “and he’s never been to this house. He’s never known of this house this far off the road. He’s never been back here. He’s never been known to come here.”
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According to Queen City News, police did tell Owen's sister and mother he had not been shot.
An autopsy was conducted in Raleigh on Oct. 13 and preliminary findings ruled out any signs of assault or trauma to the body, according to the China Grove Police Department.
Police are still awaiting the toxicology report to determine the cause of death.
“His nieces and nephews love him, and he had just gotten my son a jacket, and he didn’t even have the chance to give it to him,” Shue told Queen City News. “We want answers.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: North Carolina man's body mistaken for training dummy by landscapers
