A landscaper mowed around a corpse in the grass near a North Carolina home after thinking it was a Halloween decoration, Queen City News reported.
The dead body of 34-year-old Robert Owens was face down outside a China Grove home, apparently for days, his family said, according to Queen City News. An unnamed person reportedly found the unclothed corpse, and that’s when cops and family members became aware the landscaper allegedly mistook him for a prop.
A landscaper mowed around a dead man face down on the grass, thinking it was a Halloween prop: reports https://t.co/ENIrnS8pao
— Insider News (@InsiderNews) October 18, 2023
“Don’t know how you can do that,” Owens’ sister Haley Shue said, per Queen City News. “Mow right beside someone and assume that they’re Halloween decorations at a house no one lives at.”
Relatives last saw Owens on Oct. 1, before police located his half-naked body down the driveway of an unoccupied house on Shue Road, the outlet reported. The victim was not shot, police reportedly told his family.
“My grandmother had lived off Shue Road for 40+ years and he’s never been to this house,” Shue said, according to the outlet. “[Owens has] never known of this house this far off the road. He’s never been back here. He’s never been known to come here.”
Owens was a drug user, his family said, according to the outlet. Police are still investigating the cause of Owens’ death. Owens’ body was cut and scraped and looked like he had “defensive wounds,” construction workers reportedly told Shue. (RELATED: ‘Just Decorations For Fun’: Halloween Display Featuring Decapitated Jesus Outrages Community)
“His nieces and nephews loved him, and he had just gotten my son a jacket, and he didn’t even have the chance to give it to him,” Shue said while crying. “We want answers.”
Police and the family are currently awaiting autopsy results, the outlet reported. The family reportedly incurred unexpected expenses as a result of the incident and are raising money for Owens’ funeral.