Dallas police have launched an inquiry into the discovery of a man’s body inside the trash chute of an Uptown high-rise apartment building on Valentine’s Day.
Very little information about the grisly find has been released to the public, leaving the death of 28-year-old Marcus Brown a mystery. The “unexplained death,” as the Dallas Police Department (DPD) referred to it in a statement to Fox 4 KDFW, first came to the attention of the authorities on February 14 at around 1:30 p.m.
Brown was not a known resident or visitor at the Jordan Apartments on Thomas Avenue, according to those living there who reportedly spoke with CBS News Texas. Yet nothing is certain, as they apparently told the outlet, due to both DPD and the residence’s managers not being very forthcoming about the investigation.
“The Dallas Police Department has strictly prohibited information surrounding the incident. We cannot share any details with our residents that have not been confirmed by the local authorities. To do so would compromise their ongoing investigation. The police have conveyed to us that it appears to be an isolated incident,” an email from management to residents read, per CBS.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the cause of Brown’s death yet either, although his place of death was noted as indeed being the “dumpster/trash chute.” His body was released, records show, and a funeral service in his memory will be held next week.
Some residents reported having been interviewed by DPD.
“It’s very shocking,” a resident named Haleigh Kolenda told CBS. “I guess my trash was underneath or near the body. I have no idea, but they were trying to see when we threw our trash out just to get more insight into when it happened.”
“I don’t know exactly what they’re investigating, but when there’s smoke, there’s fire,” said one resident named Charlie Kolean. “To find a body in the garbage compactor… I believe it’s only accessible by the trash chute. To think that someone could be tossed or discarded down the chute is absolutely unbelievable and horrid to think about.”
The mysterious death occurred in Council Member Paul Ridley’s District 14, which encompasses Uptown and parts of Downtown.
As extensively covered in The Dallas Express, Downtown Dallas has seen persistently high levels of crime, especially assaults, drug crimes, and motor vehicle thefts.
Ridley’s District 14 alone had logged 9.8% of crimes seen citywide this year as of February 21, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
DPD has been laboring under a significant officer shortage, with just 3,000 officers fielded despite a City report calling for 4,000 to ensure public safety. Moreover, public safety is allocated just $654 million this year as the Dallas City Council chose to spend considerably less taxpayer money on law enforcement than other high-crime jurisdictions, like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.
