Dayton police Maj. Brian Johns said Pierce’s death was under investigation as a homicide. However, the coroner’s office said Pierce’s cause of manner of death are pending.
Officers responded Thursday evening to the 400 block of Burkhardt Avenue in east Dayton after a woman reported a bad smell coming from a detached garage. Johns said the woman who called first responders was Pierce’s girlfriend.
When police arrived, they found Pierce’s body in the garage.
“The body was badly decomposed, but from the cause of death, it appears to be a homicide from the evidence at the scene,” Johns said last week.
Due to the state of Pierce’s body, investigators initially were unable to make an official identification. Investigators have leads in the case, which they are actively following, Johns said.
This is at least the second decomposing body found in Dayton this month.
Officers responded around 3 a.m. Aug. 2 to the first block of Maylan Drive in north Dayton after a Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputy found a body in the basement of an apartment building while investigating a stolen vehicle, according to police.
Johns previously said the body “appeared to be there for quite some time.” He also said it appeared the building had been vacant since 2015. That body has not been identified, and it’s not clear whether the person was an adult or juvenile, or male or female.
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