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Mystery surrounds body found with an animal cartoon coat off a North Carolina road

Police are asking the public for help to identify a body found with an animal cartoon coat off a street in Matthews, North Carolina.

Police are stumped by the discovery of a body with an animal cartoon coat off a street in Matthews, North Carolina.
Police are stumped by the discovery of a body with an animal cartoon coat off a street in Matthews, North Carolina. Matthews Police Department

A worker doing roadside cleanup found the decomposed body of a man at about 11:30 a.m. Friday down an embankment in the 1800 block of East John Street, according to a Matthews Police Department news release.

That section of East John Street is about a half mile away from the interchange with Interstate 485.

A damaged purple and silver Huffy bicycle was found nearby, police said.

The body is believed to be a white man who also wore blue jeans and light brown work boots, police said. The body was there for several weeks, based on “the level of decomposition,” according to the police news release.

Police said they don’t know the cause of death, which the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner will try to determine.

Anyone with information is asked to call Matthews police at 704-847-5555.

Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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