Convinced Dead Body Was a Mannequin, Florida Man Throws It in Dumpster

The man saw the body and thought it was a mannequin. With the help of a teenager, he placed it inside of a dumpster.

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Officials say a desk clerk at a Florida apartment complex for seniors disposed of a resident's corpse on Wednesday after mistaking it for a mannequin. What brought him to this tragic, erroneous conclusion? He figured it had to be part of an April Fool's Day prank.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, 61-year-old Ronald Benjamin spotted what he thought was a mannequin on the patio outside of the Peterborough Apartments in St. Petersburg, Fla. during his 4:30 a.m. smoke break. Dismissing it as part of a  prank, he returned to his post until another employee mentioned it two hours later. 

When he spotted a woman and her teenage son delivering the newspaper (the Tampa Bay Times, ironically), he asked the boy to help him place the "mannequin" in the dumpster. All the while, Benjamin ignored the obvious signs that he was carrying a human being, assuming the substance that resembled real blood was fake blood. 

However, Benjamin soon learned that the "mannequin" was the body of a 96-year-old woman who had jumped 16 stories to her death. He was stunned when he learned the truth, and was ultimately fired. 

No charges will be filed, as police say they believe Benjamin really thought the body was a mannequin. As for the woman, her identity still not been released.

[via Gawker and Tampa Bay Times]

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