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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Decomposing Body Found After Blood Leaks Through Salon Ceiling: Witnesses

By Kathleen Culliton | July 20, 2016 7:36pm
 The body of Timothy Jones was found decomposing in his apartment when his downstairs neighbor discovered blood dripping down a pipe in her bathroom.
The body of Timothy Jones was found decomposing in his apartment when his downstairs neighbor discovered blood dripping down a pipe in her bathroom.
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DNAinfo

CHINATOWN — A dead man’s decomposing body was found in his apartment Tuesday after his downstairs neighbor discovered blood dripping down her bathroom wall.

Police officers responded to a 911 call and found Timothy Jones, 27, lying on his bed in an apartment above a salon on Tuesday around 11:45 a.m., according to the NYPD. 

“The whole bathroom was filled with blood,” said Caridad Albarado, owner of the Grace Unisex hair salon at 39 Essex St. who initially called 911.

"It was disgusting," Albarado said about the smell that filled her salon.

Jones's roommate, Bill Frazer, 57, said the man had been living there for the past six months. 

The cause of death had yet to be determined as of Thursday morning, police said. 

Frazer, who owns a local flower shop, Flowers on Essex, told DNAinfo New York he'd been away on a five-day family vacation in Buffalo when he found out that Jones had died in his apartment.

“You can't believe things like this happen, but they do," Frazer said.

Albarado said she first noticed the strange smell in the salon bathroom on Sunday, initially attributing to portable toilets on the street.

She told DNAinfo that when she reported the situation to her landlord, he sent his son to knock on the door but didn't alert police.

“The landlord sent his son to check,” Albarado said. “But no one is gonna answer the door, he’s dead!”   

Neighbors said that when police arrived, Jones's body was almost unrecognizable. 

"He was almost unidentifiable after that amount of time in the heat," said neighbor Mike Jarmuz, 34, who first realized there was a serious problem when the smell entered his apartment Tuesday.

"Literally the entire block smelled horrible,” said Jarmuz. “I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the worst thing I've ever smelled in my life."

Jarmuz described Jones as an open and friendly person.

"He was a jovial, nice, happy guy,” he said. 

Jones had been laid off from his construction job six weeks earlier, but Frazer said he was not depressed. 

“You wouldn't expect it to happen to a kid like that,” he said.

“I knew the kid my whole life," Frazer added. "What a really super kid he was.”