A dead body sat in a pickup truck for eight months in a parking lot at the Kansas City International Airport before someone discovered it. 53-year-old Randy Potter disappeared January 17, and had parked at the airport that same day. When his family contacted the airport police to report their missing relative and to see if his truck was still in the parking lot, the police said if it was, they would find it. Astonishingly, they somehow missed it.
It wasn’t until someone reported a bad odor that the body was spotted inside the truck. Apparently, according to police, Potter had committed suicide, but no other details were released.
According to Time:
The truck’s windows are tinted, but are light enough to allow anyone to see inside. When an airport police officer found the body, it was covered up by a blanket, according to a police report. “No one should go through what we went through,” said Potter’s wife, Carolina. “We should not have gone through eight months agonizing, speculating.”
Potter’s truck had been listed in the missing person flyers circulated by Lenexa police. The family had visited the airport early on.
Kansas City spokesman Chris Hernandez said city officials were gathering facts to determine how Potter’s body remained in the lot as long as it did. The economy lot where Potter’s body was found is one of three lots situated about 2 ½ miles (4 kilometers) north of the airport terminals. Shuttles carry travelers from the lot to the terminals.
The airport has over 25,000 parking spaces, and clearly needs a better way of managing them.
Image: Dean Hochman