The body of a missing Army reservist who went to buy a car listed on Craigslist in St. Louis nearly two weeks ago was found decomposing under construction materials by demolition workers.
Robert Lovings Polk, 22, was reported missing by his family on Oct. 3, after his mother, Hayleen Jones, said her son left home to meet someone to buy a car posted on Craigslist, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Polk's body was found badly decomposed, and an X-ray revealed he had been shot, police told BuzzFeed News.
Polk was found wearing a black hoodie and lying under discarded drywall near a rundown garage, a demolition worker who discovered the body told the Post-Dispatch.
Workers reported smelling a strong odor two days prior but believed it was a dead animal.
DEVELOPING:area on Frederick in north Stl in Baden neighborhood where body of African American man found this AM.
“It looks like he had been dragged because there was a blood trail,” 29-year-old Daniel Parker said.
Along the street where Polk's body was found, Parker said he saw seven or eight shell casings.
“That’s someone’s uncle, brother, son or daddy — somebody,” Parker said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was more hurtful than anything, seeing someone’s lifeless body lying there.”
Jones said Polk was a "mama's child" and emphasized "he would have called me by now."
Polk's grandmother, 71-year-old Dorothy Polk, said on Thursday he was a "sweet boy."
“It hurts,” she said. “It hurts so bad. I knew it was him when they said on the news that they found a body. I knew it was him.”
Authorities have not determined what caused the death but called it "suspicious" and planned to perform an autopsy Friday.
