Decomposing Body Found In Dumpster, Man Arrested: Cobb Police

COBB COUNTY, GA — A Kennesaw man was arrested Tuesday after Cobb County police found another man's body inside a dumpster behind a Cobb business — and the body was already decomposing.

Garfield Royes Norris, 52, was arrested on charges related to the discovery of the body, which was found behind a business in the 100 block of Chastain Meadows Court near Kennesaw, a Cobb police spokesperson said. He was not charged directly with causing the victim's death.

Officers discovered the body around 2:20 p.m. Saturday, but the body was in the dumpster since at least Friday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The arrest warrant, obtained by the AJC, said Norris wrapped the man in layers of plastic, tarps and cardboard before placing him in the dumpster.

Norris then took off in the victim's car and tried to pass it off as his own using a fraudulent, temporary tag and a fake bill of sale that had been printed Friday, according to the AJC.

It's not clear how the victim died. The Cobb County Medical Examiner's Office took the body for an autopsy and to identify him.

Norris is charged with concealing a death, possession of methamphetamine, theft by conversion and removing or affixing a license plate with intent to conceal or misrepresent, police said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Cobb police at 770-499-3987 or via email at cobbpolicecrimetips@cobbcounty.org.