INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Officials said an Oakland County man lived in a home with his dead roommate for about a month before police were sent there on a welfare check and discovered the body in a bathtub.
Oakland County deputies were called Tuesday (April 5) to a home in the 7800 block of Caberfae Trail in Independence Township to check on Michael Leroy Wagner, 76, according to authorities.
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Police said Mark Alan Means, 58, was Wagner’s roommate at the home. Means told police that Wagner was sleeping and he didn’t want to wake him, according to officials.
Deputies said they found Wagner’s body in a bathtub. They believe he fell on March 7 and died March 10.
Means couldn’t tell officials why he didn’t report the death, but said he realized it was about time to report it, according to authorities.
An autopsy concluded Wagner had died of natural causes and found no signs of foul play.
Means was taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of failure to report a deceased person. He was arraigned Friday on the charge and is being held at the Oakland County Jail on $5,000 cash/surety, or 10%.
Means will be allowed to return to the home with deputies to retrieve his personal belongings, but a condition of his bond is that he can’t live there, officials said.
