Thursday night, a burning portable toilet that was later found to be containing a dead man was discovered behind the Longview Recreation Center in the parking lot of the Frank White Jr. Softball Complex.
Rec. Center Front Desk Coordinator Miranda Erichsen, who was working as the incident was discovered, said, “between 7 and 8 the lifeguard came out to tell us that there was a fire behind the building.”
Erichsen said that the lifeguard was curious if this was a normal happening, “we went to go check it out and the fire department had already gotten there.”
With the road blocked off when she got off work and tried to investigate, Erichsen said “I came into work this afternoon and they told me it was a burning body.”
Another Front Desk Coordinator, Krista Heard, said that from what she had gathered, “they didn’t even realize that there was a body there, I guess there was foam rising and whenever they cleared it they found the body.”
Heard said she has questions about the incident. “I don’t understand why they would pick such a busy area. There is so much action going on in the pool and it was right there.”
Another concern Heard said she has is “we don’t have porta potties back there, they do during the summertime but not during the fall. It was obviously moved to that location and burned.”
West Seniors Chase Rosson and Colin Summers said they had heard about the incident before coming to play basketball today.
“It’s a little sketched out, but… we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t a safe place,” said Rosson.
Summers said, “it’s kind of freaky, but it doesn’t affect how I feel about this place.”
Erichsen said she felt a sense of discomfort. “It is very creepy.” She said she is “a little freaked out, I mean its weird. I can’t believe it was a burning body.”
Check back in the coming week for more information.
