Child’s mummified body found in closet, DeKalb neighbors say

ATLANTA — Police are investigating after a mummified body was found in a closet at an Atlanta apartment complex.

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Channel 2′s Tom Jones spoke to neighbors at the Hidden Valley Apartments, who said they heard that it was the body of a child, but police have not confirmed that.

Video sent to Channel 2 Action News does appear to show a body in a closet with a purse on top of it and debris surrounding it. The person’s gender and age are unclear. The video is too graphic to show.

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The door to the apartment was boarded up on Tuesday and there was crime scene tape strung up outside.

The complex’s management asked Jones to leave the property.

Catherine Costello lives next door to the unit where the body was found on Sunday night.

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“It’s an atrocity it really is. It’s a shame that humanity can get that low,” Costello said.

Costello said the unit has been vacant for awhile, but a woman lived there before. Costello said she never saw a child.

Other neighbors said homeless people would sleep in the unit and that it wasn’t empty.

A neighbor who only wanted to be identified by his first name, Jamie, said he’d also heard the body was that of a small child.

“I don’t know what to say. That’s crazy. To think about hurting a child,” Jamie said. “I peaked in there and the whole place is furnished.”

Police would not comment on the video and said they are waiting for the medical examiner to identify the body.

Neighbors said that if a child was murdered, the killer doesn’t need to walk the streets again.

“They deserve life in prison,” Jamie said.

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