By Joe Johnson
Athens-Clarke County police on Thursday said they were looking for a man in connection with the death of a man whose body was found behind a Lexington Road business Sunday morning.
Police publicly released photos of the man and his vehicle with the hope someone will recognize him.
“During the investigation, detectives learned that the unidentified subject and vehicle...was in the area shortly before the deceased was discovered,” police said in a media release. “Currently, detectives do not believe this death to be suspicious or criminal in nature, but would like to speak with the male to see what information he may have that is relevant to the investigation.”
According to a police incident report, the owner of Sunny Beauty Supply, 4060 Lexington Road, was out of town on Sunday when he saw on a security camera that a man was lying on the ground behind his business and had not moved for an hour.
After he called police at 9:47 a.m., officers found that the man was deceased, the report noted. He was wearing shorts and shoes but no shirt.
Police identified the man as 40-year-old Wesley Lamar Flanagan of Airport Road.
The business owner later reviewed the surveillance camera video and said that he saw Flanagan arrive at about 2:40 a.m., and five minutes later saw the man “touch his nose and fell to the ground,” according to the police report. Flanagan was said to be in possession of three plastic bags containing suspected drugs, a glass smoking pipe, an opened pint of vodka and a digital scale.
When police notified Flanagan’s girlfriend about his death, she told officers that he was an alcoholic and drug user who had stayed with her for three days before telling him to not come back following a domestic dispute.
When Flanagan appeared at her home late Saturday night, she refused to let him in, according to police.
Officers return Flanagan’s bicycle to the woman.
While officers were still on the scene Sunday morning, an employee of Sunny Beauty Supply was able to retrieve and copy surveillance camera footage, police said.
It showed a Toyota Sienna drive past the business heading east, but it soon returned and drove to where the body was, according to police.
The man reportedly then threw a piece of paper with writing on it out the vehicle’s window and it landed next to Flanagan’s body, police said, and then the man drove away without calling police to report the body.
The writing on the paper referred to performing a sex act for $20, according to the police report.
Police asked for anyone with information about this case or knows the the identity of the man in the photo to contact Detective David Harrison at 762-400-7361 or via email at david.harrison@accgov.com.