Country artist Tyler Rich discovered the dead body of a young man on New Year’s Eve and is recovering from the harrowing experience.
Rich, 34, said he found the body in the woods while he was running through Chicopee Memorial State Park in Massachusetts on December 31.
“This will be an image and moment of my life, I’ll never forget,” wrote the singer on his Instagram.
The Nashville native was on a planned 4-mile run. But 2.5 miles into it, he came across a dam and entered into a heavily wooded area.
“I was fairly far off from where anyone else would be running,” wrote Rich. At this point, he thought he had come across a young, sleeping homeless man.
“He was on his stomach and had a bag tied around his foot and was faced down,” recalled Rich. “After running around him, I felt bad for him, he was sleeping facedown and just looked like he was in a bad place. So, I turned around and went back to check on him.”
He then discovered the man’s “lifeless face covered in blood. Everywhere.” Rich presumed this could be from a gunshot or blunt force trauma. Panicked and without a phone on his person, Rich was able to locate a couple walking on the main path.
“Spent about an hour doing statements with state troopers, FBI, local police, detectives, etc,” wrote Rich. “After sometime, the officers found a gun in one of his hands under his body. Which means it potentially could have been a suicide… Not that there is any type of thing that could help me cope with finding him like this.”
He added: “I’m doing what I can to process this, the image, the reality … He looked like a young, normal kid. Someone with a family probably wondering where he was. Whoever you are and were, RIP friend.”
According to local media, state police and local police are investigating the incident.
