Foul play not suspected in death of elderly man whose decomposing body is found at home

Police do not suspect foul play in the death of an 86-year-old man
whose decomposing body was found at his Cedar Hill residence.
 
Reports say the man’s nephew, a Valley Church resident, telephoned
the Parham Police Station at about 10:55 a.m. on February 20; he
reported that he was at his uncle’s home, from which a foul odour
was emanating, and he was requesting police assistance.
 
The deceased reportedly lived alone and his nephew had not spoken
to him in over two weeks.
 
Officers arrived and conducted a search around the house but found
no signs of forced entry. However, a western patio door was open
with the screen pushed in.
 
The officers gained access via this opening and made the discovery
of the partly decomposed body of the elderly man.
 

Allegedly, the body was seated upright in a living room chair and
was dressed in a burgundy T-shirt and yellow shorts.
 
Reportedly, a local doctor, another nephew, was contacted, and he
reported that he had last seen the deceased sometime in September
2023.

Apparently, the deceased had suffered from a slew of ailments,
including hypertension and diabetes.
 
The district doctor reportedly arrived on the scene at about 12:23
p.m. and pronounced the body dead at 12:56 p.m.
 
The coroner, Magistrate Ngaio Emmanuel, was informed and she
gave permission for the body to be removed to Barnes Funeral
Home at the request of the family.