Bloody, naked body found in Ohio shed
Police in Columbus, Ohio, investigate the discovery of a bloodied, naked man in a garden shed Monday.
January 18th, 2011
11:22 AM ET

Bloody, naked body found in Ohio shed

Police in Columbus, Ohio, are trying to identify and retrace the final hours of a naked, bloody man found dead in a backyard garden shed.

Someone had knocked on neighbor Dennis Hoover's door at midnight, but Hoover refused to open the door because he couldn't see the man, he told CNN affiliate WBNS-TV.

Hoover called 911 but police could not find anyone, the station reported. Bloody handprints were visible on Hoover's door in the morning.

After daylight, Hoover followed footprints in the snow into a neighbor's yard, where he discovered the bloodied body in the shed.

"He was covered (in blood). It looked like he went through a briar patch," Hoover told WBNS. "Just scratched all up."

Investigators were hoping an autopsy would tell them who the man was and how he was injured.

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Filed under: Crime • Ohio • U.S.
soundoff (333 Responses)
  1. clark

    I possibly have to apologize this article says that he called police but isn't clear about when he called. If he called them the next morning, than the man is the idiot NOT the police, and I am eating crow, but if the police were called the night before and didn't think to follow footprints in the snow shame on them. Having witnessed Ohio police give up on several footchases in my life, I am speaking with some previous bad experience, and need to caution it with the fact that there are MANY heroes in the Ohio police force and it is probably unrealistic of me to expect heroic reaction every time in the first place.

    January 18, 2011 at 4:35 pm | Report abuse |
  2. ACE

    Cops are all lazy

    January 18, 2011 at 4:50 pm | Report abuse |
    • twiddle

      "All cops are lazy." Is a generalization and untrue. That's like saying all doctors are Indian. Some cops are lazy sob's is a better way of putting it. There are some damn fine cops working out there.

      January 23, 2011 at 6:43 pm | Report abuse |
  3. gti

    can we all just give this poor man and his family 1 sec and pray for them.

    January 18, 2011 at 6:55 pm | Report abuse |
    • Michelle Lawler

      Amen!!!

      January 19, 2011 at 3:25 pm | Report abuse |
    • Obi Won

      Yeah lets pray. That might help. "Dear invisible man in the sky, please do something to make me feel better".. Hmmm. I got nothin. Lets do a test: pray in one hand, and defecate in the other, and see which one gets full first.

      January 31, 2011 at 10:55 am | Report abuse |
  4. nev palmer

    i cant believe you folk in the us expect any more of your police. in the uk we pay our taxes through the nose and then some. for the police to sit in cars and refuse to endanger themselves. or stand infront of a burning building and physicaly restrain a neighbour with a ladder trying to reach their friend screaming at the window as the fire brigade will be here in ten... (actually happened in manchester last year). copper is something you become if you fail your exams. or were bullied at school.

    January 18, 2011 at 10:36 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Mr. Davidson

    In Pittsburgh ,they do a decent job of managing this type of call,I think they be on it. Don't speed on I -70 though.

    January 19, 2011 at 12:52 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Ann

    I went to a police department for help once. Just once, and I will never do it again. I was treated like a criminal, the responding officer acted as if I were wasting his time and ran my name through the database three times (because I have tattoos and must look like a criminal to him, I guess.) Before it was all said and done I had been degraded and humiliated enough to tell them to just leave. My rapist was never caught, I was never offered any assistance, and I learned a valuable lesson: Don't go to the cops for help.

    January 19, 2011 at 5:44 pm | Report abuse |
    • metmo

      I'm so sorry that happened to you.

      January 23, 2011 at 3:03 am | Report abuse |
  7. Jo

    No lindoright, YOU'RE jumping on the bandwagon. It simply says he called 911. Nothing more. brittany is exactly right. I had actually written the same thing, I just didn't see hers, but it looks like they didn't print mine anyway.

    January 19, 2011 at 8:24 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Jo

    Confused, when's your time? And another thing, every article I read, 98% of the you posters always just bash cops. Were I one, I sure wouldn't want to help you!

    January 19, 2011 at 8:35 pm | Report abuse |
    • Army Scout

      Emotions and reactions are simply humanity coming through in a moment of stress, but when an individual that says-essentially-"You hurt my feelings, so I refuse to render asssitance...even though it is MY JOB!!" is pretty much a waste of tax payer money and resources. Thanks for letting us know your feelings and how shallow you are...glad I don't serve with anyone like you...

      January 22, 2011 at 1:45 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Stacy

    They don't make the fresh doughnuts till 4:30 AM.

    January 20, 2011 at 2:04 am | Report abuse |
  10. Ann

    This sad story has been on my mind all week. I live just a few miles from where it happened and therefore have seen more extensive news coverage. The news reports say that when police finally arrived, after 12 1/2 minutes, they did see the bloody prints on the door and the man told them that the man knocking was naked. There had been snow on the ground for several days with numerous tracks on it, but it seems like barefoot prints should have stood out. The saddest part of the whole thing is why you turn away a naked man when he is begging for help and obviously freezing in 17 degree weather. Where was he hiding his weapon? The very least you could do is throw him a blanket and tell him you are calling for help. I know in today's society you need to be extra cautious, but this was a human being begging for help. They have identified him as a 24 year old who had bi-polar and schizophrenia. He had wandered off from a friend about 2 1/2 hours earlier. My heart goes out to his family.

    January 20, 2011 at 9:03 am | Report abuse |
    • jended

      I feel the same. I couldn't leave a guy outside naked and bleeding. I just couldn't do it. Like you said, at least throw him a blanket and tell him to stay put until the police arrive. The story isn't thorough, so perhaps the homeowner did that but I don't know. Poor guy.

      January 27, 2011 at 2:49 pm | Report abuse |
  11. BH

    THis is a sad story of a mentally ill man who needed help see in this story from the Columbus Dispatch. I don't believe that the first homeowned noticed the bloody door knob or footprints, so the police wouldn't have known that. It is a very sad story that no one went out of their way to help him.

    http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/20/mother-mourns-for-mentally-ill-son.html?sid=101

    January 20, 2011 at 1:58 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Pleasse wait while we add new art

    Maybe he was going to the shed to look for a hoe.

    January 20, 2011 at 3:31 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Dan the Red

    I'd like to know a few more facts about this case...what did the officers do that night? did they actually talk to the homeowner in person? Did they get out of the car at all? There's a lot of assumptions about this situation...

    January 20, 2011 at 10:52 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Dan the Red

    Thanks, BH....there's the rest of the story.

    Very sad.

    January 20, 2011 at 10:55 pm | Report abuse |
  15. jeannie

    I have to disagree with the young lady who thinks it was not required for the officers to get out of the car, however I'll just bet if it were your home you would want them out checking to see if someone was lurking around your house! There have been MANY occasions that burglarers, murderers, etc. have used a help call to gain access into a home. For all they knew a person could have been hiding with bad intentions!!

    January 21, 2011 at 8:27 am | Report abuse |
    • Roo2you

      Have any of you ever called 911? in cases like this, they ask...would you like the officers to make contact. If you say no, then they don't get out of car. just patrol the area. I see first hand what these officers go through everyday. I wish I were as brave as them.

      January 29, 2011 at 8:08 am | Report abuse |
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