The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 155 Horrifying
This information convinced Eric that something must have happened to the person who called the police.

The private car is still there, they're getting a divorce, and they've gone missing—these three words together are like a bomb.

With that in mind, Eric pushed open the front gate, picked up a powerful flashlight, and cautiously walked toward the main gate.

He stopped in front of the door and knocked.

The room remained deathly silent.

“LAPD!” Eric shouted.

"Is anyone home? LAPD! Routine check! We've received a report about this location!"

Still no response.

Eric frowned, took a step back without doing anything, and instead followed the procedure to conduct a second confirmation.

He did not have the right to forcibly break down the door to conduct an inspection. If he did, it would be a violation of the law (a fourth-degree felony), and he would face suspension from his duties, investigation, and civil litigation.

He had heard of far too many similar cases. One patrol officer, driven by personal feelings, broke down a door to rescue a friend, only to find his friend had overdosed on drugs and faced a civil lawsuit.

The defense attorney submitted a lot of evidence to try to prove that his actions were justified, but the court ruled the evidence invalid. In addition to being suspended from duty, the unfortunate officer also had to pay more than $10,000 in home repair costs.

Eric left the front yard and went to his neighbor's house to inquire about the missing person.

Fortunately, the neighbor was cooperative. He was a middle-aged, portly white man, shirtless. He looked at Eric, then glanced at the desolate house next door.
"Officer, to be honest, I haven't seen Kara for two days either."

Eric pressed further, "Where are her family members?"

"I haven't seen him at all!" the neighbor sighed.

"Even her car hasn't been moved." He said, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, by the way, officer, I heard them arguing a lot two days ago, and then it suddenly went quiet."

The neighbor paused, looked at Eric's furrowed brow, and asked hesitantly, "Has something happened, officer?"

Eric didn't answer, but simply thanked him, saying, "Thank you for your help." He turned and left under the watchful eyes of his neighbors, then took out his walkie-talkie and calmly reported.

"10-L-11 Call dispatch center, requesting supervisor (commander) to come to the scene. Welfare check is unresponsive and neighbors confirm that the missing person and family have not appeared for two days. The necessity of forced entry needs to be assessed."

Dispatch Center: "Received!"

For cases like this, where both the complainant and the neighbor have confirmed that someone has been missing for an extended period, there are only three options left.

Either Daves, the commander in charge, contacts a judge to urgently issue a search warrant, or the person who reported the case entrusts the property management or relatives to deliver the keys to the scene, or the missing person has a legal guardian who is present and consents.

He has the right to break down the door and force entry if any of the above conditions are met.

Eric stood outside the police car, staring at the lifeless house, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

The United States is definitely one of the countries that values ​​procedural justice the most. There is even a sentence printed in the police manual: Procedural justice is not an obstacle, but a way to prevent you from turning your funeral into your farewell ceremony.

Soon, Daves sent out instructions.

The dispatch center has obtained permission from the person who reported the incident and the relatives of the missing person to attempt to break down the door.

Daves will also apply for a search warrant at the same time.

“Yes, sir!” Eric ended the call and prepared to break down the door.

But before breaking down the door, Eric didn't forget to turn on his body camera to record the whole process, and he stood in front of the main entrance and shouted a warning again.

"LAPD! Entering soon! Final warning!"

After confirming there was no response, Eric drew his Glock 17, kicked open the front door, shone a powerful flashlight into the room, and entered CQB search mode. A strange odor permeated the dimly lit room.

Eric fumbled to turn on the light and discovered that the source was spoiled food on the table.

The next second, his gaze was drawn to a family photo hanging on the wall, showing a couple and their five children.

Eric's eyes sharpened, he switched to the CAR stance and began searching each room one by one.

The other rooms were unusually clean, but a body was found behind a closed bathroom door.

A male corpse lay supine in the crimson blood-soaked bathtub, a horrifying gash on his wrist.

At this moment, a strange odor suddenly became strong and pungent, but it was firmly sealed within the small bathroom space.

Eric's sharp gaze swept across the scene, his brain processing the information at lightning speed.

The blood in the bathtub did not form a clear dry film on the surface, and the blood underwater was still in a liquid state. The wrist cut wound did not shrink or turn white. There was only a slight bloody smell at the scene, and no putrescine or cadaverine odor.

"Time of death: approximately one day ago."

But Eric frowned when he looked at the corpse, because it belonged to the male owner.

So where did the missing person go?
Eric slowly exited the bathroom to avoid disturbing the scene, picked up the walkie-talkie and reported: "10-L-11, Code 4 confirmed (safe), body found, requesting notification of duty commander, forensic pathologist, and psychological crisis intervention team."

Dispatch Center: "Received!"

Upon hearing the response, Eric knew this wasn't over and continued the search, eventually discovering a large industrial-grade freezer in the dimly lit basement.

As if he had a premonition, he subconsciously opened the refrigerator door.

The next second, I held my breath.

The freezer was crammed with frozen human remains—arms, thighs, calves, and feet.
In the corner, six heads were stacked like bowling balls. They were the missing woman and her five children from the group photo.

Peng!
Eric slammed the door shut, his face turning quite grim. Anyone who witnessed such a horrifying sight would likely have nightmares for days.

Even he felt a strong sense of physical disgust and chill instinctively creep up his spine.

Eric took a deep breath, glanced at the refrigerator, turned and quickly left the basement, picking up the walkie-talkie.

"10-L-11, 18 emergency, code 187 Homicide, signs of homicide detected, requesting notification of the Robbery-Homicide Division!"

The dispatch center seemed surprised by how quickly the situation had changed, pausing for a second before replying.

"Roger that!"

-

Eric stepped out of the basement, took a deep breath, glanced at the happy family photo hanging on the wall before leaving the house, and strode out to prepare to set up a cordon and maintain order at the scene before the arrival of the following troops.

Combining all the clues, Eric could piece together a story without even thinking.

The wife was getting a divorce, so the husband took drastic measures, brutally murdering the entire family and dismembering their bodies. Afterwards, he even had a nice dinner before finally choosing to commit suicide.

"Even tigers don't eat their cubs. This guy is definitely a psychopath. No wonder the lady of the house is getting a divorce," Eric muttered to himself. Under the shocked and stunned gazes of his neighbors, he began to pull up the yellow warning tape.

"Officer! What happened?" The neighbor standing in his front yard finally couldn't help but ask.

Eric simply shook his head and silently continued to pull the cordon, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

(End of this chapter)