MACON, Ga. — An elderly man was dead for at least a week in a Macon senior living home before his body was discovered.
Residents say they're sickened by this tragic news and by the foul smell throughout much of the building before the body was found--and even since.
"It could happen to anybody, because the age that we are in, the state of health that we are all in, it could happen," said Ann McCrorey.
McCrorey says over Christmas weekend, she and her neighbors began smelling something she called "contaminated" and "unsanitary." December 26, McCrorey reported that to management at Ingleside Manor.
"I thought the carpet had been cleaned with dirty water, but my daughter came over and insisted that it wasn't the carpet," McCrorey said.
Little did McCrorey and others know, one of their neighbors was dead.
Coroner Leon Jones says a 76-year-old man died from natural causes sometime before Christmas in his bathtub on the second floor at the senior living home.
Jones says the man was dead in the tub for at least a week before a family member checked his apartment and found his body.
Though Ingleside Manor is not assisted living, McCrorey says management was negligent for not checking on the complaint.
"Why nothing was done to check on the residents who were ill or shut-in to see if it was coming from an apartment," McCrorey said.
Residents including McCrorey and visitors like Debbie Dupree say the odor still permeates the halls.
They says the room where the man died was never professionally cleaned. We reached out to Ingleside Manor. They declined to comment.
"And not only that, it's a bad morale-type situation. If you're an elderly person, you live there, you're expecting to be safe, you're expected to be healthy," Dupree said.
McCrorey says to avoid a tragedy like this from happening again, she's encouraging management and residents at Ingleside Manor check on others.
Coroner Leon Jones echoed that by saying everyone needs to check on one another. He says in the last two weeks, the Coroner's Office has responded to three calls, including this one, where a person was dead for days before being discovered.