Dead Body Sat In Airport Parking Lot For 8 Months, Family Demands Answers

Randy Potter's family, their attorney, and a PI believe Potter died shortly after leaving his home on January 17, the last day he was seen alive.

Randy Potter [Lenexa Police Department]

Randy Potter [Lenexa Police Department]

By: Catherine Townsend

KANSAS CITY, KS — Relatives of Randy Potter, the 53-year-old Kansas man who had been missing for eight months, are demanding answers after his body was found sitting inside his truck at a busy airport.

Potter's family, their attorney, and a private investigator believe Potter died shortly after leaving his Lenexa home on January 17, the last day he was seen alive.

Police in Kansas City found his body on Tuesday at the Kansas City International Airport after a foul odor was reported coming from his white 2014 Dodge Ram pickup truck. The truck was parked on street level in front of Terminal B, in a busy lot used by thousands of passengers per day.

Potter’s body was found in the driver's seat. According to the Kansas City Star, Potter's remains were so badly decomposed that investigators couldn’t initially determine the gender or race.

Potter's wife Carolina is now demanding an investigation into how the body could sit in a busy area for so long undisturbed. The family has hired a lawyer, John Picerno, who told the paper that the family's goal is to "try to make sure that this doesn’t happen again to somebody.

A spokesman for Kansas City reports that officials are now working with S-P Plus, the company that manages the airport's parking spaces.

“<em>The city of Kansas City and its Aviation Department express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Randy Potter,”</em> spokesman Chris Hernandez said in a statement. “We wish them peace during this difficult time.


Potter’s niece, Melissa Alderman, told the Kansas City Star that during the search for Potter, she had given authorities her uncle's license plate information and suggested that they check the airport.

Losing a loved one is hard. Losing a loved one to suicide is 10 times harder. Knowing that they sat there and baked for eight months — I can’t breathe," she told the paper, calling the incident a "total disregard for human life.

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