Man found in home may have been dead year or more
Police believe body had been in home for more than a year
Police discovered the body of a Tyrone Township man, who is believed to have been dead for more than a year, in his home Friday.
Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte confirmed that deputies responded to a welfare check at Gary Richard Buys' home in the 11500 block of Farmhill Drive around 7:30 a.m. Friday when they responded to the 69-year-old man's home at the request of a neighbor who watches his cabin in northern Michigan.
"We believe he died from natural causes," the sheriff said Tuesday. "It still remains open until an autopsy is completed."
Bezotte and Undersheriff Michael Murphy both said that foul play is not suspected.
Bezotte said officers found "quite a few liquor bottles" in the tri-level home, but whether alcohol was a factor in the man's death was not immediately known.
Bezotte said Buys' body was found on the kitchen floor of his home located off Denton Hill Road. Due to the condition of the body, including the level of decay, police believe the body had been there more than a year.
The sheriff said Buys does not have any known living family members as his parents are deceased and he did not marry.
The sheriff said neighbors in the Farmhill Drive location indicated that they noticed his yard had overgrown grass, but they believed Buys, who was a quiet man who enjoyed his privacy, was at his cottage in northern Michigan.
Bezotte said the neighbor at the cabin reported not seeing Buys in a long time and he grew concerned when he was unable to reach Buys after a tree fell on his cottage. He called the Sheriff's Department early Friday morning and asked for the welfare check.
Neighbors said Buys once worked at Stevens Furniture on Silver Lake Road.
"It's sad no one was checking on him or paying attention to him," Bezotte said. "His (utility) services were still on so he must have paid through automatic payment plan."
Contact Livingston Daily justice reporter Lisa Roose-Church at 517-552-2846 or lrchurch@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LisaRooseChurch.