‘Decomposing’ body hidden in trash near stolen car in Macon, coroner’s office says

A dead body was found rotting in a trash can near a stolen U-Haul in Macon Monday, the Bibb County Coroner’s Office announced.

Deputies responded to a report about the stolen vehicle in a neighborhood dead end on Emery Highway Lane just before 3 p.m.

Then “deputies noticed the distinct smell of something decomposing,” the sheriff’s office said in a media release.

They found the dead body “in a wooden area about 50 feet away” from the U-Haul in a curbside trash can, Coroner Leon Jones told The Telegraph.

“The lid of the trash can was drilled shut,” Jones said.

He suspected more than one person was involved because of the effort used to conceal the body, though the incident was still under investigation Friday.

It was unclear if the person and stolen vehicle were connected, deputies said.

The body was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for an autopsy to determine the person’s identity and cause of death, according to county Coroner Leon Jones.

Investigators urged anyone with information related to the incident to call the sheriff’s office at 478-751-7500, or Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.