Here’s why Macon man’s death is being treated as suspicious

The discovery of a 72-year-old man dead inside his home early Wednesday prompted a suspicious death investigation by Bibb County sheriff’s deputies.

A sister and a nephew found the body of Ronny James Dawley lying on the floor inside his home in the 900 block of Ponce De Leon Circle at 02:07 a.m., said Bibb County Coroner Deputy Ronnie Miley.

“The house was just ransacked,” Miley said. “Drawers open. Refrigerator open. Things turned over.”

Dawley’s truck was also missing. The sheriff’s office issued a be-on-the-lookout for the vehicle, said Miley, who knew only that the pickup was manufactured in the 1970s. A Google map photo of the house shows a silver pickup in the garage.

There were no obvious signs as to cause of death, including anything indicating physical trauma or foul play, Miley said. Dawley did have medical conditions consistent with someone in his 70s that could have caused his death, Miley said.

“We didn’t see anything that looked like it (foul play), but that’s because we only had physical eyes,” Miley said. “An autopsy can determine what we can’t see ...

“There’s nothing obvious, but the whole scene and the missing truck just seemed out of place,” Miley said.

An autopsy at a GBI crime lab is expected Thursday to determine the cause of death.

“We just don’t know but in order to make sure that we cover everything, we requested an autopsy and on-scene photographs by the crime lab just to make sure we didn’t miss anything,” Miley said.

Authorities also want to provide closure for the family, Miley said.

Dawley lived alone with his two small dogs. The dogs were inside the fenced yard when Miley arrived at the home early Wednesday.

Dawley was last seen alive about a week ago.

Family members had gone by the house to check on him this past weekend, Miley said.

Dawley’s truck was gone and they figured he was out and about. A note was left for him, but when nobody had heard from him, his sister and nephew decided to get into the house.

They found his body and called 911.

He’d been dead since probably Saturday or Sunday, Miley said.

Anyone with information in reference to the incident is urged to contact the Bibb Sheriff’s Office at 478-751 -7500, or the Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.

For more on this story, come back later to macon.com.

This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 6:56 AM.