North Carolina: Autopsy for tot found dead on porch of home
MORGANTON, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say an autopsy is planned on the body of a 3-year-old boy found on the porch of a North Carolina house a day after his birthday.
The Burke County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that a motorist called 911 on Wednesday morning saying a child appeared to be lying on the front porch of a Morganton home, about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte.
Deputies who found the boy's body said the front door of the house was open when they arrived. Sheriff Steve Whisenant said the boy's mother and her boyfriend were asleep in the house when officers arrived.
Temperatures were in the mid-20s early Wednesday.
The boy's name has not been released. No charges have been filed.
A neighbor, Pat Williams, was shocked by the death.
"I was so sorry and I didn't know the family well," she said.
Williams said her children owned the house and had been renting it to the man for about a year. He recently started dating the child's mother, and the two had moved in with the man at the beginning March.
"He kept to himself, and we kept to ourselves," Williams said.
