It had been a bad winter. In 1985, we had 18 inches of snow on the ground and more was falling.
My partner and I were patrolling the city parks in Roanoke, Virginia. Because of the weather they had been closed for several days.
While everyone was safe and warm inside we were out looking for vandals or anyone who might be stealing. Thieves often stole copper pipes when no one else was around.
In one remote park we were driving around the perimeter when suddenly we heard a loud bang, then another.
We quickly exited our vehicle and plowed through the snow. The bangs where coming from a restroom building.
As we neared this building we heard yet another loud bang. It sounded like something metallic.
As we approached the door a series of bangs rang out. We pushed the door open ready to confront thieves. Once we were inside the loud noises stopped.
We saw one person in the freezing room. It was an older man lying on the floor under one sink. He clutched a walking stick in one hand. Just above where he lay was a series of metal pipes.
He must have been the one who made the banging sounds we heard. But as we approached we realized he was dead.
Our guess was he had frozen to death. We checked the rest of the building and found nothing. We noted there were only our footprints in the snow outside.
A few days later I called the medical examiner. He told me the man was intoxicated and had been dead for at least 24 hours when we found him. As we suspected he had frozen.
If it hadn’t been for the banging on the pipes this man would not have been discovered until days later. By then it probably would have been children playing in the park who found him.
My partner and I never discovered a logical reason for the bangs we heard. We never heard them again at this park.
We have often wondered if they were made by the dead man’s cane. Did he want to be found?
This story and many others told by police officers are shared in Loren W. Christensen’s book entitled, Cop’s True Stories of the Paranormal. This book can be found on Amazon.