A schoolboy's adventurous outing in an abandoned house in Ohio lead to the discovery of a mummified corpse hanging in a closet, Sunday.
The 12-year-old rushed to his house and informed his mother about the dead body. "When he first came across it, he thought it was a dummy, or a mannequin or something," Michelle McGrath, the boy's mother, told CBS affiliate WHIO-TV.
McGrath then went and checked the house and found the body. She immediately alerted the Dayton, Ohio, police.
The authorities said that the body was of a 53-year-old man named Edward Brunton. The body was hanging by a belt around its neck. They said that the house was bought in 2009.
According to the officials, Brunton had a brother who stayed nearby. However, the brothers had not seen each other since 2008.
Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, said that Brunton did not interact with the neighbors. He was estranged from his family and friends and it is believed he killed himself just after moving into the house in 2009. Following the incident, Brunton's brother confirmed the identity of the body.
"It is very unique to find mummified remains like this almost five years old," coroner Kent Harshbarger said in a news conference, reports NBC Bay Area. "He was found suspended from the neck still from a belt in the closet, it appears to be a suicide."
The closet protected Brunton's body from decomposition, and from animals and insects. "Because of the location where he was found, it was relatively protected, sunlight protected, temperature protected and low humidity," Harshbarger explained.
Although, the officials say it was a case of suicide, investigation is on.
