PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) — A Panama City Beach man left his wife’s body on the floor of their living room for several days, even after the body decomposed and the couple’s dogs chewed off her foot, according to court documents.
Gary Johnson, 50, of the 500 block of Lantana Street, was charged with improper storage of human remains.
Officers wrote that they responded to Johnson’s home on Saturday after Johnson called 911 and said that someone else was in his home and that he believed his wife was lying dead on the floor. However, when they arrived Johnson would not answer the door.
Officers could see a dead woman in the home through an open window and eventually, they forced open the front door. Once inside they spoke with Johnson who was “disoriented and not lucid.”
Johnson told them his wife had died about four days ago but he kept her on the floor of the living room because “he did not want to lose her.”
Johnson said his two dogs chewed on his wife’s body and removed her foot, which was missing when officers arrived.
“Mr. Johnson knew he should have called law enforcement or medical help when the medical episode occurred …” police wrote.
The officers noted in their report that the victim appeared to be dead for more than five days. The cause of the woman’s death remains under investigation.
