A 51-year-old US Navy veteran has been found dead in his Dallas, Texas apartment, tragically it is thought he had lain there, undiscovered for at least 3-years
Just how Ronald Wayne had laid undiscovered for the past three years, lying on his kitchen floor is both tragic and unbelievable, especially after his family had reported him missing on several instances to different police forces, I cannot begin to know just how his family feels at this moment-in-time and my thoughts are with them all.
It has become apparent that Mr Wayne would have still remained missing if it were not for a chance inspection of apartments in the block, whose tenants had not used any water in the Desota area development over the past few months, staff had to force the door open before gaining access.
Police had previously told his mother that they could not open a missing person file as the man was over the age of 18 and was regarded as an adult, they also stated that Mr Wayne had worked for a defence contractor and was regularly out of the country on work-related assignments. Calls to his mother had ceased about three years ago.
Just how his body was not discovered earlier is quite frankly a horrific list of coincidental explanations. His apartment resided on the third level of the complex in a relatively secluded area of the floor. His apartment was very modern and had well-insulated walls and floors, and with all the windows and doors tightly locked, the apartment had been turned into a singular module unit.
However, it has come to lite that approximately two years ago a neighbour had complained to the apartment’s maintenance team that liquid was leaking from the ceiling into his dwelling, but when the leaking stopped the maintenance team just closed the file and as his month-to-month rent continued to be paid from his Navy retirement fund, no further detrimental flags were raised.
The course of death is not known at the moment only further tests will hopefully shed more lite on this tragic death, his body will not be released to the family for burial until these tests have been carried out.
The horrific plight of 51-year-old US Navy veteran is not rare, believe it or not, in the state of New York alone, approximately 50,000 people die, some alone and some unseen.
Please keep an eye out for your neighbour, most of us are persons of habit, if you notice that your neighbour has changed his or her routine, or if you have not seen them for a couple of days, go an knock on their door, you may save a life.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mr Wayne at this tragic time.
Steve Simmonds