However, investigators still have not released a cause of death for Harry Watts Jr., 52, who was determined to be the owner of the property where his decomposed body was found outside a residence off Red Brush Road.
“We are still trying to figure out whether it was a homicide or suicide,” the sheriff said.
“We’re actually going to be back over there searching tomorrow,” he added Sunday in detailing the next stages of the investigation. “We have had people sitting on the house all weekend.”
Both the Surry County Sheriff’s Office and State Bureau of Investigation have been involved in the case.
County deputies went to Watts’ residence Thursday afternoon in response to a neighbor who was concerned about the man’s welfare, according to previous reports. That neighbor had indicated that “something just wasn’t right” there, and officers found the front door to the home open and Watts’ body in tall grass near the front porch.
Atkinson said it wasn’t unusual for the door to be open because the home lacks air-conditioning.
The decomposed body possibly had been in the grass since last Monday, based on checks with neighbors, who are said to have had little contact with Watts. The body was sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.
Atkinson said Sunday that the identification of Watts came after a painstaking search of dental records. “Our first challenge was to find dental records,” he said, which involved seeking a dentist who might have treated the man.
The sheriff described that as a time-consuming process requiring much work, and credited Surry EMS Director John Shelton with aiding in the research leading to Watts’ eventual identification.
Authorities earlier reported that a weapon was found which was believed to have been involved in Watts’ death.
Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.
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