COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County police are investigating a suspicious death after a body was found inside a vacant Kroger store.
Investigators said a man’s body was found inside the vacant store along Cobb Parkway SE just after 10 a.m. on Thursday when a maintenance worker was checking for a possible water leak.
“You don’t see the police presence around here so much because it’s a very safe area,” Melk Bibi, the manager of a BP across the street from the shopping center, told Channel 2’s Michele Newell.
“When I heard that it’s very sad and shocked, very shocking,” Bibi said.
Homicide detectives haven’t released the victim’s name or cause of death but said they suspect foul play.
The shopping center where Kroger once stood has sat empty for well over a year.
“To leave it abandoned like that for a long time, I don’t think is a good idea. It’s just become a problem, and it becomes a source of our problems,” Bibi said.
Cobb County 911 says there have been half a dozen fire or burglary alarm activations, since the grocery store shut down in the fall of 2024.
They say police have been called to the property for minor problems.
As Bibi continues to manage the gas station across the street, he says he is optimistic about what the former shopping center could become.
“From what I heard they were starting construction soon and we are waiting for that. We renovated our store recently and we’re expecting a lot of business to come from that construction and that project,” Bibi said.
County zoning officials told Newell there have been plans to redevelop this shopping center for 15 years, but said there are no active building permits or land disturbance permits yet to go forward.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Cobb County police at 770-499-3945.
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