Mystery surrounds death of ‘half-naked’ NC man mistaken for a Halloween decoration
Police hope a toxicology report will help determine what killed a North Carolina man whose family believes he was mistaken for a Halloween decoration as he lay dead outside an abandoned log cabin.
Until China Grove Police receive the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s report, the death of 34-year-old Robert Paul Owens remains a mystery, police said this week.
A groundskeeper mowing the property at 770 Shue Road on Oct. 9 saw the body but didn’t report the discovery, according to a China Grove Police Department news release on Tuesday.
The groundskeeper told police he thought the body was “a fake dummy used for training by numerous law agencies on the property over the last few years,” according to the police news release.
The next day, another worker at the property reported the body to authorities, police said.
Preliminary findings of an autopsy conducted Friday in Raleigh found no signs of assault or trauma, police said.
“We are still awaiting the toxicology report to determine the cause of death,” the police department news release said.
On GoFundMe, Owens’ family questioned how he could have been mistaken for a Halloween decoration or a mannequin. He was found “half-naked” face down in the yard, in only his underwear and socks, according to the GoFundMe posted by family member Haley Reavis.
“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 Halloween decoration at a house no one lives at.”
“Robert we all love you and miss you dearly,” Reavis said on GoFundMe. “Gone to soon but you will never be forgotten. Your demon you battled here on Earth is over, may you rest in peace bubby I love you.”
It’s unclear what the property is used for. Public records show the land and cabin where Owens was found are owned by a company with an address that traces back to a Charlotte-based commercial real estate firm.
Police urged anyone with information about Owens’s death to email China Grove Police Detective C.A. Frantz at cfrantz@chinagrovenc.gov.