Ankeny Police are waiting for autopsy results before releasing more information about the deaths of two people in a mobile home.
Lieutenant Brian Kroska says the bodies were discovered Monday morning after officers were sent to the Autumn Ridge mobile home park.
“I think it was the property owner or manager who requested us to come over there to do a welfare check,” Kroska said. The two had been dead for “an extended period of time,” according to Kroska. Their names and details about how they may’ve died, for now, are not being released.
“We don’t want to make any speculations as to what may’ve cause their deaths. Until autopsy results are back, it’s not fair to say what exactly caused their deaths,” Kroska said. It’s also unclear how long ago the two may’ve died.
“I did see in a news report that a neighbor had said they had not seen them since January, but I don’t think (they’d been dead since then),” Kroska said. “But, I’m guessing by what I was told as to the level of decay, they’d been there for a while. How long, I’m not exactly sure.” Kroska added, it’s not that unusual for police, “from time to time,” to find a person who’s been dead for many weeks or months.
“Everybody’s situation is different – if they have no relationship with family or maybe they’re not exactly neighborly, that’s how these situations can happen…where no one has checked in,” Kroska said. “If they don’t have a job or they’re self-employed, that’s kind of how these things can slip through the cracks sometimes.”
While it’s still unclear if a crime was committed, Kroska said it does not appear that there’s any threat to the public.