Navy veteran found dead in his apartment died 3 years prior, medical examiner says

A medical examiner has determined Ronald Wayne White had been dead in the apartment since communications with his mother in New York ended abruptly three years ago, WFAA reported.

"My son would call me at least twice a month," Doris Stevens told WFAA, adding, "He would call me from Egypt. He would call me from the Philippines. He would call me right from Dallas."

White, who worked for a defense contractor following his military service, traveled frequently and would have been 51 at the time of his death, the news station reported.

An officer with the DeSoto Police Department told People magazine White's body was found last week on the kitchen floor of his DeSoto Town Center apartment when maintenance workers entered the premises to investigate a water issue.

"Maintenance men were trying to get into the apartment because they noticed that the water usage was non-existent for some time, so they suspected that there was some type of issue with the water main," the officer told People.

Stevens, who lives in Long Island, New York, told WFAA multiple police departments explained to her over the years that because White was an adult who was known to travel frequently they could not pursue her concerns as a missing persons case.

“My biggest question is, how in the world could my son have been dead in that apartment and nobody knows anything?” Stevens told the news station.

According to WFAA, DeSoto police have determined White had a month-to-month lease on the apartment paid through an automatic withdrawal from an account linked to his Navy retirement. The new, well-insulated dwelling was located on the third floor with all windows locked and sealed tightly.

"The way he was found, the way the apartment was arranged and so forth, there was zero indication of foul play," Pete Schulte, a detective with the DeSoto Police Department, told the news station. 
In addition, police investigators found diabetes medications inside the apartment – dated 2016 – and the family confirmed White was a diabetic, People reported.

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