TERRE HAUTE —
A Terre Haute man whose decomposed body was found Thursday lived alone in his late parents’ house without utilities or food, and probably froze to death some time in December 2009, according to investigators.
The man, who police declined to identify on Friday pending notification of relatives, was not discovered for more than 18 months. His body was in an advanced state of decomposition when police entered the home after a neighbor spotted the body through a broken window.
“We’re looking at a hypothermic death,” Vigo County Coroner Dr. Roland Kohr told the Tribune-Star on Friday, saying the man was probably someone who fell through the cracks of society because no one noticed his needs.
The man, a white male who was 44 when he died, was wearing four sweatshirts and a jacket, and was under a couple of blankets, Kohr said. The electricity to the home had been shut off in April 2009 due to non-payment, he said, and investigators found no food inside the home other than condiments, salt and a box of Shake ’n’ Bake.
Kohr said he found evidence inside the home that the man had lost his food stamp benefits.
“This was somebody who probably needed food stamps,” he said.
The man was lying on a couch in a front room of the house near a window air conditioner unit. His body was in an advanced state of decomposition, Kohr said.
The most recent mail found inside the home was dated December 2009.
The house itself was in disrepair and it appeared abandoned to the neighbors.
“We’ve only lived here since December and we never saw anyone over there,” Amber Dockins said Friday afternoon.
She and her husband found the dead man after they noticed that the air conditioner was gone from the window and that a garage door had been kicked in.
Dockins said she saw the front cover of the air conditioner on the ground and noticed glass from the broken window, so she went over to the corner of the house to clean up the glass so no children would get hurt. When she looked inside the window, she saw the man on the couch.
“It looked like he was climbing into bed and he never woke up. It was horrifying,” she said.
A neighbor across the street, Leyber Vasquez, said he had lived across the street from the home since March 2010, and he never saw anyone at the home, so he thought it was vacant.
Another neighbor around the corner, who declined to be identified, said he has lived in the neighborhood for about three years, and saw the man a few times walking past on his way to or from a store.
“We thought he just up and moved,” the neighbor said of not seeing the man for a long time. “It makes you want to get to know your neighbors a little better.”
Ronald Frye said he has lived around the corner from the dead man’s house for six years. Frye said he knew that the father of the man who died was a retired police officer, and that after the father died in 2008, the son continued to live in the home. The younger man was friendly enough, waving when he would walk by.
“He was a loner,” Frye said of the dead man. “He never caused anybody no trouble or nothing. We saw him walking to the store and back. Then, a year and a half ago, we didn’t see him, and we figured he had moved in with relatives.”
County property tax records show the house was sold at a delinquent tax sale last year, but the new owner has not yet taken possession of the property. The tall grass and weeds around the small house were mowed by the city, and Dockins said the city cut the grass on the property just last week. On Friday, a city building inspector put a notice of condemnation on the house and its detached garage.
Assistant Chief Shawn Keen of the Terre Haute Police Department said that investigators found the house’s doors and windows were securely closed. It was the theft of the window air conditioning unit that allowed visibility into the home.
Keen said that he knew of no one calling city police to report the man as missing. Police often get requests for well-being checks if a neighbor, friend or relative hasn’t seen a person for a while, he said. And sometimes, it is a postal carrier who will tip off police that something may be wrong with someone if a person has not collected his or her mail for several days.
Angie Hall with Adult Protective Services in Vigo County said her office had no record of providing services to the man. If he had no heat, food or needed medical care, she said, her office would have helped get the appropriate services set up for him.
Hall said her office gets calls from friends, relatives, neighbors, and physicians who think someone may be in need of services, but in this man’s case, no one made that call. While people often think of doing well-being checks for elderly or handicapped neighbors, she said, they may not think that a 44-year-old man might need assistance.
The public can report a person who might need help by calling Adult Protective Services at (812) 462-3286, or the local police agency.
“I regret that I never stuck my nose in to check on him,” Frye said.
“We got all these neighbors around here, and nobody really knew him,” he said. “I tell you what, from now on, that’s what I’m gonna do. I learned a lesson. Keep an eye on your neighbor.”
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Rachel Keyes Getting the facts: Officers from the Terre Haute Police Department speak with Cathy Arzola and Lewis Spiker about securing the house and property.
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Tribune-Star/Rachel Keyes No trespassing: A condemned notice was place on the house were a man likely died two years ago was found by a neighbor checking on a possible burglary.
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Tribune-Star/Rachel Keyes Remorseful neighbor: Ronald Frye lives behind the house on 11th Street were a body was found Friday afternoon. Ronald says he regrets not looking in on the man who lived in that house.
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Tribune-Star/Rachel Keyes Shatter glass: The outside window of a house on South 11th Street were a the remains of a man were found Friday afternoon.
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18 months dead: Body found in Terre Haute house
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