HOUSTON, Texas. Houston police are waiting for autopsy results after two badly decomposed bodies were found inside a north Houston home, leaving longtime neighbors wondering what happened to two men they had known for years.
Houston Police Department officers were called to a home at 11617 Downey Street, near Little York Road, at about 5:15 p.m. Monday after a neighbor reported a strong foul odor coming from the house.
When officers entered the home, they found two men unresponsive inside. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced both men dead at the scene.
Police have not publicly identified either man. Their identities and causes of death are being determined by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. HPD said homicide detectives G. Herrera and R. Barcak are handling the investigation.
The condition of the bodies suggests the men had been dead for some time before they were discovered. Police have not said exactly how long they believe the bodies were inside the house.
Neighbors told local television stations that the men were believed to be brothers who had lived at the property for decades. Some said they had not seen the men since around Sept. 7, about a week before the bodies were found. Police have not yet officially confirmed that the deceased men were the brothers described by neighbors.
One woman reported that her husband went to the house after people became concerned. She said he looked through a window and saw what appeared to be two badly decomposed bodies. Police arrived and entered the home shortly afterward.
Neighbors said the house had long been connected to the same family, even as newer homes were built around it. One longtime neighbor summed up the feeling by saying, “I need to know what happened.”
Neighbors said one of the three brothers that lived there had moved out within the past month, leaving two believed to still be living there. Neighbors also said the brothers sometimes had disagreements. Those accounts come from people living in the area and have not been confirmed by police as being connected to the deaths.
Early reports from investigators did not point to an obvious explanation.
According the Houston police, there were no obvious signs of trauma when the men were found. Because the two bodies were discovered together inside the same house, homicide investigators are treating the circumstances as suspicious while waiting for the medical examiner to determine how they died.
That does not necessarily mean police believe the men were killed.
Deaths can be investigated by homicide detectives even when the cause is unknown, especially when more than one person is found dead at the same location. Toxic exposure, drugs, carbon monoxide and natural causes are among possibilities investigators can examine in unexplained deaths. There is currently no verified evidence showing that any of those possibilities played a role in this case.
Police have also not announced a suspect or said they are searching for anyone connected to the deaths. HPD’s official statement says the investigation is waiting on the results of autopsies.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences will examine the bodies and try to determine both the cause and manner of death. The cause explains what physically led to a person’s death, while the manner generally determines whether the death was natural, accidental, a suicide, a homicide or could not be determined.
For people living along Downey Street, the unanswered questions remain.
The neighborhood includes older homes that have stood for decades alongside newer construction. Property records show the house at 11617 Downey Street was built in 1945, making it one of the older homes remaining on that part of the street.
Police have not provided a timetable for the autopsy results.
Anyone with information about the two men or what happened at the Downey Street home is asked to contact the Houston Police Department Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.
