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What should I do if I find a bag by the road that I'm concerned it's a dead body?

So I was walking and found this garbage bag that had flys on it and it was tied up. I kicked at it a bit and it did feel like something limp was in there like it was dead. Tried to untie it as well so might have my fingerprints on it. But yeah a car came up and was yeah someone actually concerned for me and he’s like I’m going to pray for you man. So that right there just got me to stop looking any further at the bag. But I’m still kinda of interested if I should’ve said something right then and there. My phone was almost dead anyway. But yeah I was thinking maybe I might find a dead body maybe a part of a dead body. I didn’t look any further but it was out of place I felt. Should I report such finds?

bloodfart ,

Open it

Fondots , (edited )

Call 911, tell them where it is, explain that you found a trash bag somewhere and you’re concerned it has a dead body in it, don’t disturb it any more than you already have

I work in 911 dispatch, from my end of things this is a very straightforward call. Verify your location, one or two short lines of notes, send a cop out to check it out.

I’ve taken a few calls like this, luckily it’s always just been trash or at worst a dead animal.

One time the responding officer found some bones in the bag and was pretty sure they weren’t human, but called out our on-call coroner to be sure who confirmed that it was just a deer or something.

Similarly I once had a call from an off-duty coroner reporting a “strong smell of decomp” from the woods near a gas station or something. I guess if anyone would know it would be them. Sent a cop out, sure enough, it was a dead deer.

It’s very rare that anything like this is ever as exciting as your imagination makes you think it might be. Still, always better to call if you’re unsure.

pearsaltchocolatebar ,

I bet it’s just a mannequin.

DemBoSain ,
@DemBoSain@midwest.social avatar

911, what’s your emergency?

I found a dead body on the side of the road.

Where are you? I’m sending police to you now.

Uhh, I touched it.

OK, don’t do that. Do you have hand sanitizer?

I may have eaten some.

…

Also, I tripped. I may have slipped inside.

What does that mean?

I…completed.

Listen just stay where you are, police are on their way.

d00ery ,

And don’t forget to update us on the outcome!

turnerpike20 OP ,

Well I got a call back later from a private number I meant to answer but missed out. Since their number was private I couldn’t tell.

Subtracty ,

A similar situation happened to me! DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING Call the non emergency number! If they are annoyed that they came out and it winds up being garbage, who cares? At least you didn’t ignore something potentially very important.

In my case, it was a suitcase that had duct tape around it. That showed up overnight. I called local cops first that sent guys out that seemed bored, honestly. And my heart was racing as I answered questions. When they opened the bag, it had ripped clothes and a half used roll of duct tape. The local PD literally said “well, we don’t have a crime we can match this to.” They started to leave without the bag and I was confused why they wouldn’t at least take it for evidence? I have watched too many episodes of CSI, cold case etc and was freaking out. They left. I guess they just want to make money on traffic stops.

I couldn’t leave the situation there, and a friend knew someone in the State Police. After a few phone calls I got in touch with a detective. Who was very confused that the local cops had handled the situation like that. He arrived and took the bag into evidence and got my information. As far as I know, nothing ever came of it.

Cadeillac ,
@Cadeillac@lemmy.world avatar

How was the duct tape in the duct taped suitcase?

DudeDudenson ,

You’re asking a guy who got offended the cops didn’t take a random suitcase with clothes and tape as evidence of a non existent case enough to call up a detective who probably just took the time to take the thing to a dumpster somewhere

Cadeillac ,
@Cadeillac@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, I guess when you put it that way

Subtracty ,

The circumstances it was found in were a little different than OPs, like I said the bag appeared overnight. And on private property where there was no road access. Little bit suspicious for a heavy suitcase to wind up in a place like that. The detective agreed. Police aren’t just there to make traffic stops. He said there were a few unsolved missing persons cases that police had searched the nearby area for on account of their circumstances. In one case, a wife went missing, and her husband was spotted circling the roads nearby for hours the night she went missing but her body was never found.

I just kept my story brief because I didn’t think anyone would be interested. But there was absolutely reason to think it could amount to something. And all I’m saying is if I get murdered, I hope the local cops I initially called aren’t on the job cause those guys acted like they wanted to be sitting in their car eating donuts.

Cadeillac ,
@Cadeillac@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, but like, what about the duct tape?

Subtracty ,

That was part we were confused by! I literally asked my coworkers before I called the cops if this was some sort of prank they were playing on me because no one else had access to the area and it just seemed like something out of a cheesy mystery novel. When the police opened the bag and it was just clothes I was so relieved, but the roll being inside was weird. Like someone either had another roll of tape for the outside, or they preeemtively cut a length off before putting the roll inside. Who knows. I wonder if I’ll ever get a call about it, but suppose no news is good news.

dharmacurious ,

cheesy mystery novel.

Well… I guess I’ll just delete that Google doc I’ve been working on for 2 and a half years! 😭

pdxfed ,

🤨

Annoyed_Crabby ,

In my country, you can phone the nearest station(not using emergency line) and the police will check it for you. That’s how a lot of murder victim is found in my country anyway. They will also check for suspicious package left at the train station to make sure it’s not a bomb.

TerkErJerbs ,

The person said they’d pray for you because they thought you were a dumpster diver i.e. that you were gonna eat out of the trash so that’s what happened there. And so… It was also probably just a bag of food waste going gnarly.

It’s actually really funny to me that a cop has to go look in the funky bag. That’s a better use of their time than a lot of things they get up to of a day. Nice one!

Drusas ,

The person said they'd pray for you because they thought you were a dumpster diver i.e. that you were gonna eat out of the trash so that's what happened there.

Possible, but it is a huge stretch to automatically assume that was what they were thinking.

turnerpike20 OP ,

Yeah it’s a pretty rural area. I think he was just someone looking to spread his religion to cause he basically did hold up traffic a bit. So it did seem like he was actually concerned I would be walking all the way out.

BlucifersVeinyAnus ,

I never report any of the dead bodies I find, I really hate paperwork

andrewrgross ,

I would suggest calling the city or county and reporting suspicious dumping. It could be a body. It could be a rotting animal carcass. It could have toxic chemicals in it.

You don’t need to suspect that it’s a body to call the city and report what looks like dangerous dumping.

turnerpike20 OP ,

So I did call the non-emergency phone number. Could be a waste of time for the cops or whatever. What I was doing is walking to Burger King to get a Whooper I walked 5 miles there and 5 miles back home found it on my way home.

MossyFeathers ,

Whooper

https://pawb.social/pictrs/image/a49fdf16-a3e4-4f73-af75-aa114a073e6e.jpeg

Joking aside, if you think you’ve found a body, drugs, a gun, whatever it is; don’t touch it, find a place that’s far away from the thing but in view so you can keep an eye on it, and then call it in. I know, ACAB and all that, but this is serious shit. You don’t wanna be too close in case the owner comes back, but you don’t wanna leave it either.

CeruleanRuin ,

At the very least, OP, dumping garbage by the road is against the law, so even if it’s just regular garbage, you are reporting a crime regardless. Bonus: a cop has to deal with someone else’s garbage.

ArbitraryValue ,

It was probably just full of garbage (which is also “limp” and attracts flies) and the idea of some cop having to cut it open and go through it because you called it in is sort of funny.

With that said, I have wondered about similar things. One time I saw a guy I thought might be dead but I waited a few minutes, he moved a little, and I figured he was probably just very drunk so I left. Another time I did go tell an NYC cop that there was a guy lying on the ground in the middle of a busy street, and the cop didn’t seem to care. Maybe I should have called 911 instead but I didn’t want to be officially associated with the situation.

KoboldCoterie ,
@KoboldCoterie@pawb.social avatar

and the idea of some cop having to cut it open and go through it because you called it in is sort of funny.

“Yeah, officers, uh… I definitely saw a body, at the bottom of the landfill… If you don’t find it right away, just keep looking, it’s definitely there.”

Cephalotrocity ,

This kinda thing just happened to me 2 days ago. Out taking the dogs for their evening walk and some dude was lying in the middle of his yard splayed out on his back, eyes closed, motionless and alone. It really looked like he had fallen off the roof or passed out so I waited for 10 seconds to see if I could see breathe, didn’t, said loudly “you okay there buddy”?

‘Yup’

“awesome. Have a good evening.”

😳

proper ,
@proper@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah there are non-emergency police numbers other than 911. I also say phone it in.

hddsx ,

Wait, why would you not call 911? Murderer on the loose sounds like an emergency to me

AdamEatsAss ,

I think 911 (or whatever the number is where you live) would be fine. But the argument could be made that the emergency number should reserved for active emergencies, in OPs case the victim is already potentially dead.

ricecake ,

So, you’re correct that active emergencies take priority.

That being said, in essentially every place that has 911, both numbers connect to the same place and the only real difference is pick-up order and default response.
It’s the emergency number not simply because it’s only for emergencies but because it’s the number that’s the same everywhere that you need to know in the event of an emergency.

It should be used in any situation where it should be dealt with by someone now, and that someone isn’t you. Finding a serious crime has occurred is an emergency, even if the perpetrator is gone and the situation is stable.
A dead person, particularly a potential murder, generally needs to be handled quickly.

It’s also usually better to err on the side of 911, just in case it is an emergency that really needs the fancy features 911 often gives, like location lookups.

GetOffMyLan ,

I would argue 911 is for emergencies that 100% need to be dealt with immediately.

This feels like calling it in and letting them decide priority is better. It could be anything.

ultranaut ,

It depends on the area, many people live in places where 911 is for non-emergencies too. When you call the dispatcher will ask if its an emergency and potentially put you on hold if it isn’t.

Fondots ,

It varies a bit from one area to another, but a lot of places have moved to a central dispatch model where basically everything goes through the 911 center one way or another. It’s usually best to just call 911 and cut out the middle men, worst case scenario they’ll tell you it’s not an emergency and who to call, maybe even connect you to them directly. Even if your area works differently and they do actually want to dispatch non emergencies from the station, you really need to be a nuisance before anyone even dreams of trying to get you in trouble for misusing 911, no one wants to do that paperwork or go to court for a one-off call.

Source- I am a 911 dispatcher.

If you do call the non-emergency number, one of 4 things is usually going to happen (in my county)

  1. The call comes right into us anyway, a lot of stations aren’t staffed 24/7 so when they’re not there to answer the phone it rolls over to us, or sometimes they even publish or give out a direct number to us instead of their actual inside line because most of the time we’re going to have to deal with it anyway.
  2. The station forwards you to us
  3. The station tells you to hang up and call 911.
  4. The station takes down the information, then after they hang up with you, they call us and relay it to us (and usually misses half the details we’d like to have)

Pretty much the only things the people answering the phones at the station are good for is answering general administrative questions- “can I get fingerprinted for my job?” “did anyone turn in some lost keys?” “How do I get a permit to…?” “How do i get a copy of a report?” “How do I pay my fine?” “Where was my car towed to?” Etc.

If you need a cop to do something, even if it’s just to take a report, your best bet is usually calling 911.

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