Men mistake body as mannequin, send to landfill

SPRING HILL, Fla. — A ordinary vacant home clean-out job turned into a police investigation in Florida.

Two men were hired to clean out a vacant home in Tampa Bay area, when they found what they thought was a mannequin hanging in the garage, according to NBC Miami.

Thinking nothing of it, they cut it down, thinking it was a Halloween-type prank, and tossed it into the local dump.

The Associated Press reported that it was actually a man, who police said, committed suicide several weeks ago.  The man was in a mummification-like condition.

Star Tribune reported landfill workers found the remains and called police.

This is the second time in the Tampa Bay area that a body has been mistaken for a mannequin, The Tampa Bay Times reported.  A 96-year-old woman was found this spring.  A guard thought her body was an April Fools' Day prank.

The two workers said the house looked similar to the TV show "Hoarders."  They thought dead rodents found in the home were the cause of the smell, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

WFTV