The body of a 29-year-old man was found in the chimney of a Nebraska apartment complex, a month after residents there reported hearing cries for help that they were unable to respond to. locate.
On Oct. 19, residents of a block in Norfolk, Nebraska, called a maintenance worker to try to locate the source of a foul smell in the building, The Independent reported Saturday.
The employee then allegedly found a shoe and then the rest of Zachariah Andrews’ body caught in the block’s chimney.
The macabre discovery is said to have come just over a month after a resident of the building called police after hearing cries for help from the first floor, according to the British newspaper.
However, the screaming had already stopped by the time the two officers arrived, and no other neighbors could confirm that they had heard the cries for help. According to their report, police also discovered that a television could be heard playing at high volume in one of the apartments.
“The resident stated that there were screams about three to four minutes before the officers arrived, but that he could no longer hear them. He was instructed to call back if he heard it again,” the Norfolk police statement said Wednesday.
For his part, the 29-year-old man, whose body would have been identified through markings, tattoos and an ID card, was reported missing more than two weeks after the screams on October 3, according to The Independent.
His car, which was parked near the block of flats, had received a parking warning in the days following the call for help.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office said there was an arrest warrant for the man on seven counts of violating a protection order.