Man found dead in ditch 5 hours after 911 caller reported him moving

WAKE COUNTY, North Carolina -- Newly released 911 calls from the day 34-year-old Kevin Thomas was found dead in a ditch near Garner are adding more questions to the unsolved death investigation.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TIMELINE

November 8, 7 a.m.: A man driving by in his car on Old Stage Road near the Green Spring Valley mobile home park dials 911.

Caller: "There's a pedestrian in the ditch."

911: "Ok, do you know what happened to them?"

Caller: "Um, no, no. I saw him as I was driving by. He's moving, but moving slowly."

The caller says he thinks the man, later identified as Thomas, may be drunk. He says he's dirty and his pants are down around his ankles.

Caller: "He's in a supine position and appears to be partially clothed. "I'm already passed him and I didn't even realize what I'd seen until I was gone."

THE 2ND 911 CALL

Five hours later, at 12:05 pm, the same caller again dials 911. The body is still there.

Caller: "But I called at 7 this morning. I saw him in the ditch on the way by. This poor guy's been lying here in this freaking ditch."

911: "Ok, have you been over there to see what's going on?

Caller: "Well, I'm walking up on him now."

Caller: "He might not have made it. I think he's dead."

Caller: "Hey, hey buddy. He's dead."

Fire, EMS and Wake Sheriff's deputies responded soon after. Thomas was indeed dead by then.

Friends say he was the father of two young daughters.

The anonymous man who called 911 may have been the last person to see Thomas alive.

WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG?

A Wake County sheriff's office spokesperson said deputies, firefighters and paramedics responded within minutes of the 7 a.m. call but were not able to find the body, which may have been too hidden by the brush.

WCSO says the death probe, which also includes a child abuse investigation at the mobile home park near the crime scene, is ongoing. Detectives are still awaiting autopsy results from the medical examiner's office.