Police have yet to identify body

A man who police have not formally identified was found dead about 11 a.m. Saturday near a bike path south of the 600 block of East College Street. The cause of death is unknown.

Sgt. Dan Stearns of the Carbondale Police Department said a passerby found the body near Piles Fork Creek.

Craig Dalton, an employee at Pick’s Liquor, 760 East Grand Ave., may have been one of the last to see the man alive. Dalton said the man was a regular at Pick’s Liquor.

Dalton said he believed the man’s name to be Eric, and did not know his last name. He was often only referred to as “Captian.” Dalton said he saw the man he believed to be Eric about 6:30 Friday evening on the bike path arguing with another unidentified man. He said he passed Eric on the bike path on his way to work. The man was headed away from Pick’s and in the direction of the police department, Dalton said.

“He was arguing when I walked past him,” Dalton said. “I didn’t think anything of it because they always razz with each other. He sounded pretty mad, but no, it wasn’t too unusual.”

Brian Giffin, a friend and neighbor of the deceased, said he saw the man Friday night. He gave “Eric” money to buy liquor and then expected him to return to Giffin’s residence shortly thereafter. The man never returned.

Giffin said he began to worry about his friend when he didn’t come back within the hour.

“I know how long it takes to go to the store – 20 minutes,” Giffin said. “When an hour went by, I began to think he must have met somebody, spent the night at a friend’s house or something. When he didn’t come back in the morning, I knew something was wrong.”

What was unusual to both Dalton and Giffin was that the man was found without his bike, something they said he never went anywhere without. Dalton said the man had problems with his leg, so he hardly ever walked anywhere. Giffin said that when the man left his house, he was on his bike. According to the two men, the bike was not found at the scene, but only a reflector that they think may have came from his bike. Police would not comment.

Both Dalton and Giffin agree that the man was well liked and neither said they knew him to have any enemies.

“He was a good guy,” Giffin said. “A drinker, but a good man. He would do anything for anyone. I don’t know what happened out here, but if a crime was committed, we’d like to see it solved.”

Reporter Kristina Herrndobler can be reached at [email protected]