Homeless man finds body on Roy Street

Once again, the Bibb County coroner is trying to determine the identity of a decomposed body, and death is considered a homicide.

It was one of three homicide investigations launched Saturday and one of five in the past eight days. Coroner Leon Jones initially said an autopsy would be needed to determine the cause of death due to the condition of the body, but later in the day he declared it a homicide. He said he had gotten additional information but declined to elaborate.

A homeless man found the body at 2791 Roy St. at about noon Saturday, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

Jones said the deceased was a black male who did not have identification. The body was found lying near a doorway in a complex of dilapidated vacant apartments.

Jones said that makes at least a dozen bodies that have been found this year in some state of decomposition. He has been urging people to check on their neighbors.

“I can’t remember a year when we have had so many people found dead in a decomposing state,” he said.

Jones said homeless people are known to stay in the apartments, but he could not say whether the man was homeless. The body had been there for several days, at least, he said, and even his height and weight cannot be estimated due to the condition of the body.

An autopsy will be performed Tuesday.

Roy Street is off Pio Nono Avenue across from the Kroger store.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 478-751-7500 or Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Homeless man finds body on Roy Street ."