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.

Watch Now:

Next Up

5 Things That Still Bother Us About The Unsolved Maura Murray Case

On Feb. 9, 2004, UMass Amherst student Maura Murray left campus and crashed her car in Haverhill, New Hampshire. She has never been seen since.

In February 2001, Steven Kraft, Jr. Took His Dogs Outside And Disappeared

Over two decades ago, a 12-year-old boy went missing from outside his home in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The two dogs he was playing with have since been found but he remains missing.

Diamond And Tionda Bradley Vanished In 2001

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said thousands of leads have come in over the years on this case, but the girls (now women) have never been located.

Death, Drugs & Deceit: A Timeline of the Murdaugh Family Mystery

On March 3, 2023, Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of the June 2021 murders of his wife and son.

Man Convicted Of Killing Couple, Their 2 Sons, 10 Years After Family’s Skeletal Remains Found In Desert

ID’s 'Two Shallow Graves' explores the controversial murder trial of Charles “Chase” Merritt.

Missing High School Senior Found Dead After Classmates Organize Search

“It didn’t make sense, and someone needed to figure out where he was,” a teacher at 18-year-old Amara Jones’ school says.

Lost, Bruised Teen Tells Police He’s Timmothy Pitzen, Boy Who Went Missing In 2011

Authorities are waiting for DNA test results; Pitzen's family is “cautiously optimistic.”

Desirea Ferris, Teen Last Seen With Men Her Mom Says Are 'Dangerous,' Vanished In 2017

Patti Tam, Desirea Ferris' mother, said, “She trusted the wrong people.”