MYSTERY surrounds the death of a 53-year-old man whose body was found on the floor and covered by a blanket in his South Albury unit on Wednesday night.
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Police said an unknown person used a mobile phone to call an ambulance at 10.20pm to the McAlroy Mews unit, off Olive Street.
There was no one at the unit when police arrived.
Neighbours told The Border Mail that the man, who lived alone, had lived at the Department of Housing unit for only the past three months.
None knew the man’s name and they said he kept to himself.
Police are yet to determine whether the man died in suspicious circumstances.
Insp John Wadsworth said “it was not ordinary in the way he was found and that is why we are concerned”.
“The blanket was set out neatly on the deceased,’’ he said.
“So it may well be the case there was someone in that unit prior who had real concerns for this male and put a blanket on him to make sure he was okay and then made a phone call to the emergency services.”
He said neighbours had reported seeing two men at the unit in the hours before the body was found.
“There may not be anything sinister whatsoever to this,” Insp Wadsworth said.
“But we need to find these two males who may be able to assist us, or anyone who may have been in that vicinity who saw anything that was out of the ordinary.”
“It may be a simple case of someone got scared when they were with this person prior and have made a phone call just to alert emergency services, but we need to speak to those people.”
Police said nothing appeared to have been taken from the unit, apparently ruling out the possibility of a robbery.
The dead man’s elderly mother lives in Albury.
She was told of her son’s death by police early yesterday.
“Any police officer who has to deliver sad news like this to the next of kin, it’s always a very difficult job,’’ Insp Wadsworth said.
“But it’s nothing like the feeling the next of kin have when told the news, especially when you have police knocking at your door at one o’clock in the morning.”
Police are waiting for post mortem and toxicology reports to determine the cause of death.
Anyone with information should contact police on (02) 6023 9299.