Man investigating dogs barking overnight finds dead body in ditch near his home

ABC News/KTRK

(HOUSTON) — A homeowner made a grisly discovery early Saturday morning when he found a dead body in a ditch after going to investigate why dogs wouldn’t stop barking overnight near his home.

The incident occurred at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, in a northeast suburban neighborhood of Houston, Texas, when the man told the Houston Police Department that he heard dogs barking for more than 10 minutes straight in the early hours of the morning when we went to go investigate what was going on, according to ABC News’ Houston station KTRK-TV.

That is when he discovered a man’s body face down in a ditch and partially submerged in water.

"Other than the strange position of the body and the location, we're not seeing any major signs of foul play right now,” HPD Lt. R. Willkens told KTRK on Saturday morning while addressing the media. “We don't have any phone calls, we don't have any blood right now. Our medical examiner is going to come, retrieve the body, see if they do find evidence of foul play. Or if maybe it was a heart attack or stroke or maybe possible he got hit by a car. We don't know."

Authorities have not yet confirmed the man’s identity or age and it is unclear how long the man had been there for.

An autopsy will be performed on the body to determine if that man died from natural causes or was killed.

The investigation is ongoing.

Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 10:29AM by Jon Haworth, ABC News Permalink