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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNavy veteran found in his apartment had been dead for 3 years...
DESOTO, Texas The family of a man found dead in his DeSoto apartment last week is stricken with grief and plagued with a multitude of questions. A medical examiner determined that Ronald Wayne White had been dead in that apartment for approximately three years.
White, who would have been 51 years old at the time of his death, was a Navy veteran who traveled the world working for a defense contractor.My son would call me at least twice a month," his mom Doris Stevens told WFAA. "He would call me from Egypt. He would call me from the Philippines. He would call me right from Dallas," she said. But three years ago the phone calls stopped. Stevens, who lives in Long Island, New York, said she became suspicious when she couldn't reach him on his birthday in April of 2017.
Stevens said her family didn't have enough money to hire a private investigator. A search of his previous addresses, including the most recent in Glenn Heights, turned up nothing. He'd simply vanished."All them days, holidays, I just suffered. Because nobody wanted to help find him," Stevens said. Multiple police departments had told her that because he was an adult and known to travel extensively, they could not pursue it as a missing person case.That is, until last week at the DeSoto Town Center Apartments on East Pleasant Run Road. DeSoto police said the apartment complex was investigating multiple units where it appeared tenants were not using water.
Some were rented, but empty. But when they had to force the bolted door open at unit 1320, they found Ronald White dead on the kitchen floor. The medical examiner confirmed he died approximately three years ago. DeSoto police said White had a month-to-month lease paid through an automatic withdrawal from an account linked to his Navy retirement. His apartment, on the third floor at the very northwest corner of the complex, is new, well-insulated and all the windows were locked and sealed tight.
Schulte said a downstairs neighbor did complain, approximately two years ago, about a small amount of liquid seeping through her ceiling. But he said maintenance inspected it, moved on once it stopped and didn't enter White's upstairs apartment when no one came to the door. He also said police investigators found medications for diabetes, dated 2016, inside the apartment. They said his family confirmed to them that White was a diabetic."The way he was found, the way the apartment was arranged and so forth, there was zero indication of foul play," said Schulte.
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/navy-veteran-found-in-his-apartment-had-been-dead-for-three-years-medical-examiner-says/287-8674f689-7c2e-46c2-9ead-9a612576a760
dware
(12,369 posts)This is one bizarre story.
Being well insulated and windows shut tight kept the smell from seeping out, but still, you would think someone would have called the police to do a welfare check.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)There was an unattended death in a little rental house I own, and I just don't see how that fluid seeping through the ceiling of the apartment underneath this gentleman would have been tolerable.
RainCaster
(10,869 posts)Not like a faucet being left on.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)Part of the decomposition process. When my tenant died, the biohazard team took out the flooring in 2+ rooms, and the bottom part of a wall in the room in which she died. If I hadn't sealed the old hardwood floor underneath the laminate floor planks in the room in which she died before putting in that flooring when we bought the house, they would have had to remove that too. I still suited up in my Tyvek suit, goggles and respirator and crawled under the house to be sure it was all ok. (I'm still pretty proud of myself that I was able to do that.)
It was quite a process getting that house back to pre-trauma condition. It took me two months to be able to rent it out again, and then I had to worry that nobody would want to live there. Apparently in Colorado a property owner isn't required to disclose a death in their property, but I felt it was morally right to disclose it. Whoever owns the building where this gentleman died has a lot of work to do, even though it's been so long, and now the entire apartment building will have a stigma.
There's a lot to consider when something like this happens. I hope I never have to go through it again. And I told my adult kids that at least one of them needs to make sure they talk to me at least every day or two to be sure I'm ok so they don't have to deal with what I had to deal with.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I had no idea what a landlord would have to go through in such a tragic situation. I am sorry that it happened to you, but I admire the way you handled it.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)The worst part was that she was my favorite tenant, and I truly miss her.
I did go through a lot, but I also learned a lot, and for that I'm thankful. At the end of it all, I realized my strength, and that was such a big benefit. I had just gone through divorce and was feeling a bit vulnerable. I didn't want to be a landlord. My husband and I had an agreement that he would handle the properties and the tenants and I would handle the office/bookkeeping part of it. We split up the properties in the divorce. I'd really like to just sell them, but they do provide an income I need, and when I'm gone my adult children will inherit them and can do as they please.
Thank you for your kind words.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)You seemed to have handled everything very well. You should be proud of yourself.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)I've always tried to do things the right way, and of course I have moments where I feel a bit sorry for myself, but every experience in life is an opportunity to learn and grow. I never would have thought that being my age (65) would be so awesome, but it really is. When people ask me how I am these days, my answer is just about always, "I'm great", and I really do mean it.
But enough about me.
Maru Kitteh
(28,339 posts)I guess as long as the rent was being paid, there was no concern as to his "disappearance".
PCIntern
(25,541 posts)The wonders of autopsy
Either way...
Maru Kitteh
(28,339 posts)marlakay
(11,457 posts)Yearly inspections.
Pretty sad no one missed him.
His mother missed him.
marlakay
(11,457 posts)He was and no one would look.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)he is Navy retired and works for a defense contractor but doesn't travel, hadn't answered emails in a couple of weeks and my mother sent him an email saying she would contact the police if she didn't hear from him. So I am surprised she didn't contact his employer and the local police when he didn't turn up.
evertonfc
(1,713 posts)people do welfare checks via the local police dept when worried about a relative. A friend of mine had not heard from his father for 5 days, called police for a welfare check. After attempting to enter home, the son gave permission to enter via breaking the door. The father was dead in bed.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)For a welfare check, police would need to know his address.
exboyfil
(17,862 posts)but she didn't know his address because he had recently moved.
You would think the cops would have done a bit more follow up.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)Apparently he also traveled out of the country frequently.
dware
(12,369 posts)his whereabouts when he suddenly stopped showing up for work.
Not that I don't believe the story, I just think the ball was dropped on this.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)Sounds like he was living off his Navy retirement. He was also going to move to Philippines. He has a bunch of relatives (his mother, his siblings, and apparently adult kids) but I guess he told none of them where he lived at the time of his death.
Thank you for this additional info.
Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you, I drive 11 hours a day which pretty much wears me out, so I log on in the morning for an hour or so, same at night, then I crawl my weary bones into my sleeper and grab some zzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.
Hope you have a great Sunday.
Mariana
(14,856 posts)after he's been reported missing. If they find him alive, they shouldn't disclose any of his information to whoever filed the report without his permission is all.
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)who will certify that I died of natural causes?
Who will herald it up on the streets of my town?
Who will put a wreath on my front door?
Who will be the good friend that will die with me, at least a little bit?
Who will fake a prayer while thinking for himself "better him than me"?
Who will take care of my dog? Who will pay my burial and a headstone?
Who will empty my pockets? Who will settle my debts?
Who will end my diary on the last day I walk the earth?
Who will make bread out of my wheat?
Who will wear my coat next winter?
Who will be the new owner of my house, my dreams and my wicker seat?
Who will open my drawers? Who will read my poems with morbid pleasure?
Who will sleep in my bed, wear my pajamas, and support my wife?
Who will bring me a chrysanthemums on November first?
Who knows?
Demovictory9
(32,453 posts)mia
(8,360 posts)AllaN01Bear
(18,187 posts)too bad for the vet.
dware
(12,369 posts)deductions from his Navy retirement.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)Heartstrings
(7,349 posts)But what about his mail and other bills, like his utilities....very odd, and sad.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)Living alone with diabetes or other ailments, encourage them to get one of those medical alert thingies. The one that detects falls.
More_Cowbell
(2,191 posts)So there's that. And since I'm in CA, the rent goes up pretty much every year, too. So autopay wouldn't keep up for 3 years.
Massacure
(7,521 posts)The bank won't do anything unless you object. Same thing with utilities. For example, some months I use $30 of electricity, some months I use $70 of electricity. Whatever the bill is, it automatically gets taken from my checking account each month.
I own a condo now, but for the couple years I rented I had to change the battery in the smoke alarm once or twice because it started doing the low battery chirp (which is interesting considering they tested the common area smoke alarms yearly). They did come into my unit quarterly to change the air filters in the furnace/AC though. Whoever managed the property this guy lived in seriously dropped the ball.
imavoter
(646 posts)some years ago...
and this is bull shit.
Because someone should have checked the smoke detector.
Someone should have noticed his car was expired.
Something like that.
Something would have come up.
Enter the unit for bugs spraying, etc...
This is bull shit.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Where was his mail piling up? Something's just not right... poor guy.
ecstatic
(32,695 posts)Rorey
(8,445 posts)I have some rentals and I wouldn't go for months, let alone years, without having some sort of contact with my tenants. Checking smoke detectors is a great reason to do a property check, and it's just the responsible thing to do.
Quackers
(2,256 posts)They check fire alarms and other things at random. Two months before our lease is up, we have to start the paperwork for the next lease. They raise rent every year too. I couldnt be dead for long without being found. RIP to this guy.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Jesus, that shit would not fly for me. My landlord comes in maybe every other year and even that irritates me.
Quackers
(2,256 posts)HUD covers approximately 35% of our rent. I think that may be why. Its a small trade off I guess. We live in a nice home. The other option for our budget(without assistance) in this area would be a ran-down single wide trailer or homelessness. Its just the way life is at our income level.
As far as inspections, the most weve had was 6 in one month. But that was due to an annual HUD inspection, our monthly inspection by the property manager, pre-HUD inspection by the property manager, investors inspection(for people that invest in the property management company), a pre-investor inspection, and a walk through by a separate maintenance firm to correct any out of compliance items inside the house. It sucked but its luckily not like that every month. Weve been here since 2016 so the monthly inspection is not as intense as it was when first moving in. They know how we take care of the place.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)Two of my rentals are Section 8. Honestly, they're the least of my worries. I know that they don't want to lose the assistance, so they always keep things in compliance.
My (now ex) husband and I bought run down houses and rehabbed them into nice affordable rentals. We never got burned on any rentals that were Section 8. I just ended the lease on a house that was covered by another assistance entity, and it cost me a few thousand dollars to get it back in my possession and get it into proper condition. My new tenant there is going to be a gentleman on Section 8. I actually had to lower my financial expectations on that property so he would qualify, but I get the feeling he's going to be an awesome tenant who will probably stay for a long time. In the long run, that will be most profitable for me, and good for him too.
From a business standpoint I think I'm probably a lousy landlord, but I have to look myself in the mirror every day and I want to like what I see. I vowed I'd never be a slumlord, and I vowed that I'd never expect a tenant to stay in a house that I couldn't live in myself. I'm sure I could make more money if I did things differently, but I wouldn't feel very good about it.
Rorey
(8,445 posts)One or two times a month? That seems very intrusive.
I usually have personal contact of some sort with each of my tenants just about every month concerning rent payment, but I can't imagine doing inspections so often. My contact is usually just via a quick text. I want them to feel like the place they rent from me is their own home - which it is as long as everything goes well.
Quackers
(2,256 posts)With so many involved parties in big rentals, it can get crazy sometimes.
dweller
(23,629 posts)um... who has been pResident the
last 3 yrs ?
...
🤔
the arc of Occam's razor may be very wide, but it slices very fine ..
✌🏼
Doreen
(11,686 posts)He did not have any friends who questioned his where abouts? If he had friends they did not know about his mother? After 3 years the mail box gets pretty damn full.
I feel for this man and his mother. This is so sad. This should never happen to anyone.
LisaL
(44,973 posts)I guess the children weren't that close to him?
Doreen
(11,686 posts)HipChick
(25,485 posts)I travel a lot for my job...I'm home maybe 1-2 days a week at the weekends...weekends are the times that most of my friends are catching up with their family...all of my own family are overseas
I can see how easily this circle can create a situation for anyone..
Doreen
(11,686 posts)seperated from loved ones so much. I know I could never handle that.
Beaverhausen
(24,470 posts)Kind of explains why police couldnt have been bothered.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Most Americans who die quietly at home with no one knowing are white, of course. Anyway, isn't this really just a sad story of a diabetic dying alone? And note that the military competently deposited and dispersed this one's money as he'd directed for years, just as if he were white.
But if blame for the delay must be, I'd look to the family's poverty as a main factor, after the key cause of him not telling his family he'd moved or where of course. Certainly an attorney hired by a family with a few dollars to scrape together could have filed whatever documents were needed and lit a fire under some military clerk's ass.
Btw, with auto-pay, and with the elimination of door-to-door delivery by postal carriers who become familiar with their people's habits, there are undoubtedly more and more late-discovered deaths all the time.
sheshe2
(83,748 posts)He died alone. Alone on the kitchen floor for three fugging years.
Archae
(46,326 posts)Jane Austin
(9,199 posts)NCIS!
dalton99a
(81,468 posts)Stevens, who lives in Shreveport, La., but has been spending time with her daughter on Long Island, N.Y., remembered last speaking to White in November 2016. They discussed the upcoming election and that hed decided not to move to the Philippines until after he voted.
When December rolled around, she assumed he was busy with his move. By his birthday in April, she did not hear from White and knew something was wrong. Thats when she began contacting Dallas area police departments where she knew he had previously lived. That did not include the city of DeSoto.
Stevens said White loved to travel and she was told by authorities at the time that he was likely on a trip.
Now as I look back, all the while Id been crying about my son in Dallas, my son was dead in that apartment complex and I didnt know, said Stevens, who considered hiring a private investigator, but couldnt afford the expense. She asked her other five children to help pay the cost, but they, too, just thought White didnt want to be bothered.
White had a month-to-month lease paid through an automatic withdrawal from an account linked to his Navy retirement, Schulte said. His apartment, on the third floor at the very northwest corner of the complex, is new, well-insulated and all the windows were locked and sealed tight.
Cold weather immediately followed Whites death, which likely helped control any odor coming from the apartment, and no smell could be detected from the hallway outside the apartment during the investigation, Schulte said.
A downstairs neighbor did complain about two years ago about a small amount of liquid seeping through her ceiling, Schulte said. Maintenance personnel inspected it but moved on once it stopped and they didn't enter White's upstairs apartment when no one came to the door.
Every citizen is very important to us in our city. We especially appreciate the service members that live in our city, Schulte said. We dont want this to ever happen again.
Stevens said she is proud of her sons service in the Navy and she has a hat for every ship that he served aboard, which included USS Nimitz, USS Conserver, USS Crommelin and USS Lockwood, according to his official service record. He also spent time stationed in Iceland and Japan.
That was his passion. Even as a child, the toys he liked were ships and submarines, his mother said.
Whites last position in the Navy was as a chief damage controlman working with the Afloat Training Group in Norfolk, Va., according to his service record. His awards and decorations include three Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, four Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals, two Navy E Ribbons, five Good Conduct Medals, and two Kuwait Liberation Medals one from Saudi Arabia and the other from Kuwait.
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/navy-veteran-found-in-his-dallas-area-apartment-had-been-dead-for-three-years-1.608206
mackdaddy
(1,526 posts)Your gov't pension payments stop on your death. If this death is certified several years back then they will try to claw back all of the payments made back to the date of death.
My father died last year and although it was just one month they certainly sucked the payment back out of my parents checking account they had put in before we gave them the death notice.
My girlfriend died in her home four year ago. (she lived in a different city from me.) When we could not get in touch with her we had the police do a welfare check and they did force a window. She has died in her sleep from a silent heart attack most probably. Her sister was with the police so they did pay more attention probably than this case.
But speaking of financial, when her daughter notified the bank her mom had died, the bank on their own took most of the money from her checking account and paid off her credit card balance she had with the same bank. This caused some cash flow issues for her daughter who had to fly her family back to take care of things. Last minute airline flights are very expensive and the "bereavement" discount pretty much does not exist any more.
These are the kind of things I wish I did not have experience with...
HipChick
(25,485 posts)Sorry for your losses..