After an attempt to deliver a criminal summons at a home in Dobson yesterday morning, Surry County Sheriff’s Office deputies found an unpleasant surprise — a decomposed body.

The unidentified decaying corpse was found in a closet in a residence at 215 Ponderosa Pine Lane in Dobson yesterday morning. The body was transported to the State Medical Examiners Office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy. Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson said the autopsy could take place sometime today. Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are investigating.

The event that led to the discovery of the body was a visit to the trailer by a sheriff’s office deputy. The deputy arrived at the home around 7:50 a.m. to deliver a criminal summons, but no one came to the door. The summons was for Jody White, 37, on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

According to Atkinson, the deputy found a note on the front door from someone indicating that they had been trying to get in touch with the person living in the home. The deputy noticed a strong odor coming from an open window. When the land owner of the rented trailer couldn’t be found, officers used force to break into the house.

The body they found in the closet could have been decomposing for “as much as two weeks” according to Atkinson. Authorities won’t know the cause of the death until they get the autopsy results. The sheriff did say that some prescription medications and drug paraphernalia were found in the house.

“We’re treating it right now as a suspicious death,” said Atkinson.

The body was badly decomposed, so officers are not sure if the body was that of White or someone else. They await an answer from the medical examiner’s office.