Just a Walk in the Park, Officer

Duck Pond at the Local Park

Recently, I discovered a lovely little park not too far from our new house.  The park offers a tangle of paved pathways running throughout a wooded area, all bordered by a peaceful river.  There are picnic areas and a duck pond, and the locals stop by to have lunch and a quick walk.  This, I decided, was the perfect place to take my new puppy on his daily walk. Our outings were a huge success, and each day I looked forward to spending time at my little oasis.

Today I decided to be a little adventurous, taking a longer path than normal through the park.  About halfway through the route, I saw a little black and white, pointy eared dog standing on a foot bridge.  At this point in the path, there were no parking lots or picnic areas nearby, and I couldn’t see anyone through the dense patch of trees surrounding the path. The dog had a collar and a tag, so I tried my best to coax him over to us. My intention was to check the tag, call the phone number, and hopefully get this little guy back home. My own puppy, always eager to make a friend, scared the little dog over to the river bank.  So I crept just a few feet off the path, talking out loud to both dogs all the while.

I must have stood there talking to these dogs like a crazy lady for a solid five minutes.  Finally the little black and white dog began heading our direction, but then darted off to hide under the footbridge.  As I started to walk over the wooden bridge, hoping to meet the dog on the other side, I looked between the cracks under my feet in search of him. That’s when I caught a glimpse of something odd.

Under my feet I saw a pair of white sneakers, on a pair of feet, sticking out from a pair of blue jeans that were clearly occupied.  I was straddling what appeared to be a man laying flat in the ditch below.

My first reaction, for some reason, was not to alarm the dog. I myself was terrified… instantly assuming this was a dead body and the killer must be nearby, watching me talk to the dogs, waiting for me to discover his secret.  But in some effort to “throw him off” I continued talking aloud to my puppy as though I hadn’t seen a thing.  Maybe if the killer thinks I didn’t see the body, he’ll just let me go.  So I kept walking, saying aloud “That doggie doesn’t want to play. Oh do you want to run? Yes that’s a good dog… let’s go for a run!”  And we ran the remaining half mile back to the car in record time.

Now I realize that this was probably just some homeless guy, who was being very polite considering I had interrupted his nap.  But the fact that he hadn’t spoken or even shuffled an inch really had me worried.  So I called the non-emergency police explaining, “There was this dog, and these feet, and homeless but not moving but I don’t really know for sure.”  I left park immediately after making the call.

The dispatcher called for a little more information, saying that the officers hadn’t found anything.  So I’ll never know for sure. Did the killer move the evidence? Or did the homeless guy finally wake up?

All I know is… I need to find a new place to walk.