An aged man and his home health attendant arrived at his Harlem apartment Friday to the strong smell of a corpse stuffed in a bag, police and law enforcement sources said.
When the pair and a third person arrived at the sixth floor apartment at 770 St. Nicholas Ave. near W. 149th St. at around 3 p.m., the home health worker immediately noticed the overpowering odor, said a law enforcement source.
“The body was in a bag in the living room. It’s in an advanced state of decay,” the source said. “We can’t even tell if it’s a man or a woman.”
A police statement said the corpse was a male.
One of the three called 911. Medics pronounced the person dead at the scene, and the city medical examiner is to determine the cause of death.
“It’s been funky for about a week now. A couple of tenants were complaining,” said the building’s super, Victor Nigel.
“The body was in there with him. He lives there by himself,” Nigel said of the tenant. “I have no idea who that [deceased] person is.”
The odor permeated the building late Friday.
The tenant, a man in his 70s, is infirm and needs home care in his one-bedroom apartment, said sources.
Police are withholding the deceased person’s identity pending notification of his family.
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