Body Found in Tree Trunk

[southerngale]

I saw this on the local news. Port Arthur is just south of Beaumont.


A man doing lawn work made a gruesome discovery in Port Arthur this afternoon.
He found the body of a man in the trunk of a tree.
Police say the body was discovered at the Gulf Coast Oncology Center in the 3600 block of Catalina.

Judge Bob Morgan/Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2
"Very unusual very bizarre."

Rotten wood and shocked employees is what's left after a lawnmower's gruesome discovery.

Emily Sonier/works next door
"The man mowing the lawn found the body in a tree, in the trunk of the tree."

A foul odor brought the landscaper to the hollow tree trunk.
He looked inside and found the body.

Asst. Chief Mark Blanton/Port Arthur Police
"A black man who was rather tall had crawled head first onto his back."

Officers believe the man was homeless and crawled into the tree trunk to escape the cold and may have gotten stuck.

Asst. Chief Mark Blanton/Port Arthur Police
"He is deceased. He has been in there an extended period of time. He is in an advance state of decomposition."

Officers had to saw down the tree and use construction equipment to remove the body.
Spectators watched in disbelief.

Emily Sonier/works next door
"I can understand if he got in there to get warm. I just hope nobody did anything to him and stuffed him in there, considering I work here and I work late hours."

The justice of the peace, Bob Morgan, ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Employees say they won't rest easy until they are sure the man died of natural causes.

Emily Sonier/works next door
"The circumstances around it are so strange, that it's even more upsetting."

A witness on the scene told officers he recognized the man's jacket and believes the man was a transient.
However, officers say they have not identified the man and no one on their missing person's list fits his description.

http://www.kfdm1.com/engine.pl?station=kfdm&id=4982&template=breakoutlocal.html

[Skywatch_NC]

Poor guy...so sad.

Eric