Frozen in indifference: Life goes on around body found in vacant Detroit warehouse (GRAPHIC)

[Octafish]

This country is fast turning into one giant Katrina.



From The Detroit News (soon to go into semi-daily delivery of the print edition) comes a particularly painful article:

Frozen in indifference: Life goes on around body found in vacant Detroit warehouse

Charlie LeDuff
The Detroit News

DETROIT -- This city has not always been a gentle place, but a series of events over the past few, frigid days causes one to wonder how cold the collective heart has grown.

It starts with a phone call made by a man who said his friend found a dead body in the elevator shaft of an abandoned building on the city's west side.

"He's encased in ice, except his legs, which are sticking out like Popsicle sticks," the caller phoned to tell this reporter.

"Why didn't your friend call the police?"

"He was trespassing and didn't want to get in trouble," the caller replied. As it happens, the caller's friend is an urban explorer who gets thrills rummaging through and photographing the ruins of Detroit. It turns out that this explorer last week was playing hockey with a group of other explorers on the frozen waters that had collected in the basement of the building. None of the men called the police, the explorer said. They, in fact, continued their hockey game.

CONTINUED...

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090129/METRO08/901290400

When I was a kid, not all that long ago, I believed the 21st century would be somehow different.

[sharp_stick]

1. Unfuckingbelievable

How dare this prick call himself an urban explorer. I did that for years and in no case would I have hesitated to call the cops if I saw something like this. Shit find a payphone and drop a quarter if you're worried about being discovered.

The asshole should be ashamed of himself.

On edit: What's even worse is that it took 2 days and 3 or 4 phone calls from the reporter before the fire department agrees to come out and dig the body out of the ice, I wonder if the cops ever showed up.

Detroit is a fucking shithole and has been for so long I think it might not be worth saving.

[ComtesseDeSpair]

2. Agreed

I'm an urban explorer too and would not have hesitated to call the police. Anonymously, of course.

[TornadoTN]

4. Respectfully, I believe the outrage should be more directed to the authorities

As well as our government which led us to this degree of despair.

Apparently, they called several times trying to get someone to come take a look (the reporter) and was given the runaround by the police. No one really seemed to be too interested in finding out what happened to this guy or removing his body.

Sure, the Urban Explorers should have called, but as it seems apparent, no one would have cared anyway.

Such a sad state of affairs.

[MrScorpio]

9. I used to do the same thing as a kid

Lot's of abandoned houses I went through here in Detroit... If I had found a corpse I would have called the cops in a heartbeat.

[appleannie1]

3. Years ago, while driving through Philly, son saw a man laying on the sidewalk and people stepping

over and around him. While waiting for the light to change, son really looked closely at the man and thought something did not look right. He found a parking place and backtracked. The man was not sleeping, he was dead, hence his color. I guess people did not feel the need to report that a homeless person was dead.

[leftchick]

5. yeah well even time can not make some people

behave like humans. :(

[Barack_America]

6. Um, wow. An "urban explorer" who plays hockey and the press gets called first?

Anyone else follow detroitblog?

[Hannah Bell]

7. those shoes look pretty clean for a homeless person.

or an urban explorer.

[Barack_America]

8. I agree. I suspect this was not a homeless person...

A quite possibly the victim of a crime.

[That Is Quite Enough]

10. I feel sick.

[4 t 4]

11. How Awful

this is someones kid just think of that, so sad. Octafish where have you been I remember you and your posts you were one on my favorites here.

[tomreedtoon]

12. Welcome to the cruel America that EVERYONE wanted.

Democrats as well as Republicans, because the Democrats in office didn't care for the poor and troubled either. They were after all the same old votes from the wealthy and powerful. Who gives a damn about the poor?

Get used to seeing dead bodies, kids. Reality isn't a pro-social-value cartoon show.

Who knows. Maybe someday a few people might get angry enough at this situation to do something effective...like write a few letters to the editor.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. "This country is fast turning into one giant Katrina." QFT.

And Granholm will get Blanco'd.

[Two Americas]

14. thanks Octafish

More here -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4933929&mesg_id=4939604

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4933929#4938085

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4933929#4939486

[4 t 4]

15. also Thank You Two Americas

you are such an asset. Just Outstanding-all your posts

[Octafish]

16. Thank you, Two Americas.

"Good people worked for the Detroit Public Schools at this warehouse, and many wonderful people still work for the Detroit Public Schools. I know some of them personally." -- Two Americas

We probably know more than a couple of the same people, my Friend.

[gristy]

17. He found a "dead body"... As opposed to a live body?

That's pretty sick.

[underpants]

18. What a picture. I was just about to post this. Amazing

:kick:

[maryf]

19. I believed the 21st century would be somehow different.

it is different, its worse...thanks for caring...