Body of missing man found in refrigerator

— A man reported missing in Missouri more than a year ago has been found dead inside a refrigerator in a field near the northeastern Kansas town of De Soto, authorities announced Monday.

The Johnson County sheriff’s office said the body inside was that of 33-year-old Gregory Price, whose last known address was in Ottawa, Kan. Sheriff’s office spokesman Tom Erickson said Price disappeared in late 2010 or early 2011, and police in Independence, Mo., were contacted in early 2011.

The sheriff’s office says Price’s last known whereabouts were in the De Soto area, about 25 miles southwest of Kansas City, Mo.

A tip led deputies late last week to the gated field along Kansas Route 10 where they found the abandoned refrigerator in the tree line. The body was inside the unit’s refrigerator portion, not the freezer. Erickson said people occasionally dump stolen cars in the area, which isn’t visible to vehicles on the highway.

Erickson said authorities were awaiting final autopsy results and that the cause of death has not been determined. Price was identified based on a fingerprint.

Erickson said the body had been there “some time” and that officers don’t know whether Price died before or after he was reported missing.

Upcoming Events