An Alabama woman is shaken after discovering her brother's body just yards from where his car was found more than three months ago, and she is accusing police of not properly searching the scene at the time of the accident.
Katie Lewis told The Washington Post that she found her brother, Cody Martin, body on September 2, about 20 steps into the woods off County Road 55 in Cullman.
“It was a horrible experience, something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy,” she said, recalling the moment she and her brother-in-law discovered the body.
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and confirmed the discovery.
Lewis told The Washington Post that Martin went missing on July 26. Lewis last saw Martin on May 18.
Over Labor Day weekend, she finally got a call from a eagle-eyed towing company who told her they had removed her brother's wrecked car from the scene, which had been found crashed into a utility pole on May 30.
Lewis said he knew at that point he had to go and see the scene for himself.
“He'd been missing for 104 days, so there was no way I wasn't going to go there,” she said.
Lewis and his brother-in-law searched the woods for about 30 minutes before finding the body, which was later identified through dental records.
Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chang told The Washington Post that his cause of death will be recorded as blunt force trauma from a motor vehicle accident.
Alabama State Police responded to the scene of the initial crash, Lewis said.
She blames emergency responders for not thoroughly searching the scene and is now seeking to hire a lawyer to further investigate the situation.
State police did not immediately respond to The Washington Post's request for comment about the incident.
