(La Porte, IN) - A badly decomposed man's body was discovered in the yard of a home outside a La Porte on Wednesday.

 

La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said the body was found around noon in the 3000 block of West Small Road, not too far from the La Porte County fairgrounds.

 

Swanson said the homeowner was doing yard work when he found the partially clothed body near some bushes he was trimming. She estimated the man had been dead for about 30 days based on the amount of decomposition.

 

Swanson said the body would be taken to a facility in Indianapolis to try and identify the man through dental records and determine the cause of death. However, she said the body was too decomposed to identify right away or locate any apparent wounds that could yield clues to the cause of death.

 

Swanson also revealed investigators are not ruling out the possibility that the body is that of 38-year-old Brett Lawson, who was reported missing close to a month ago. Lawson was last seen July 31 in the 3100 block of West Small Road, not far from where the body was discovered.