A Virginia man is charged with concealing a dead body after a family came back from vacation to find the corpse of 23-year-old Deandre Miller behind some bushes in their yard, reports WTVR.
Miller appears to have suffered a fatal opioid overdose.
According to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's office, 23-year-old Jared Smith apparently crashed his car into a ditch as his friend overdosed. He then dragged him behind some bushes to hide his body.
Miller's body lay under the bushes until 48-year-old Scott Mattice went to get the lawnmower and found Miller instead.
“It is believed that Smith hid Caldwell’s body near a residence, in such a manner to make him not visible from the roadway just prior to law enforcement arriving on scene of the crash,” the sheriff’s office spokesperson said. “Caldwell’s remains would later be found [August 5] by residents returning home from vacation.”
It's not yet clear why Smith hid the body instead of calling for help—first responders can revive people who are overdosing on opioids if they're called in time—or reporting his death to authorities after the fact.
Virginia allows anyone to legally carry naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug. But price-gouging by pharmaceutical companies has hampered the widespread distribution of the drug.
