Neighbors Smelled Odor Coming From Building Where Man's Body Found Wrapped In Tarp
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A death investigation is underway after a man's body was found wrapped in a plastic tarp inside a home in the city's Fairmount neighborhood. The evidence police found at the crime scene may shed light on how the victim died as neighbors say they've been smelling a foul odor coming from the building for a few days.
The owner of the building found the man's body inside a second-floor apartment at 1919 Mount Vernon St., just after 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
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"The first question is what's going on? Then you see the Crime Scene Unit and, yes, it's unsettling," said neighbor Bob Weick.
Weick lives across the street. He says contractors have been doing work on the building. Homicide detectives say drug paraphernalia was found in the room.
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"We don't know his age. We don't know his manner of death other than it's clearly under suspicious circumstances," said Philadelphia Police Capt. John Ryan.
Neighbors tell Eyewitness News the building is split into three apartments and several smelled an odor coming from the building a few days ago. A post office employee says he picked up an odor on Saturday.
"I've been thinking about this and I believe possibly 30 years ago there was a similar instance, but it was a very different neighborhood then," said a woman who has been living next door for 40 years.
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Another neighbor said two men lived in the apartment. Police are now speaking to neighbors and friends of the deceased, hoping it will lead to answers.
"We don't think it's a random thing. The person in the tarp does have some ties to the building," said Ryan.
Police are hoping for tips on when the man died, how he died and who put him in the tarp.