KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Distraught family members want answers after a missing Kansas man's body was found in a parked vehicle at a Kansas City airport months after his disappearance.
Kansas City police confirmed Friday that Randy Potter's badly decomposed body was recovered from his truck at Kansas City International, eight months after the Lenexa dad was last seen.
On Tuesday, officers at KCI found his truck after getting reports of a terrible smell coming from the parking lot. In the driver's seat, police found a body so badly decomposed that they couldn't immediately determine the race or gender.
Investigators later confirmed that the body belonged to Randy Potter, who they believe took his own life, according to WDAF.
Potter's family insists investigators dropped the ball, and say someone should have found him long before then.
"Emotionally it's been a very, very tough journey," his wife, Carolina Potter, said. "The not knowing, the sleepless nights."
She says the painful mystery began January 17th when her husband, who worked as a manager with T-Mobile, left their home and never arrived at work.
Carolina says she and her family did everything they could to find her husband, including hiring a private investigator, according to The Kansas City Star. Strangers also fanned out around Lenexa looking for the missing 54-year-old husband, father and beloved friend.
"The only thing I told them (was), 'I don't know if I could find him. I have no idea if I could find him, but I cannot stop looking for him,'" Carolina said.
A worried and weary Carolina said they filed a missing persons report with the police department, but there were no signs of her husband until eight months later.
"My husband could have been found in the first – I'm gonna be very generous – in the first week, okay," Carolina said.
"The fact that he sat there for that long is disgusting," daughter Nichole Potter said.
The Potter family is furious because they say the Lenexa Police Department, KCI and airport officers all dropped the ball. With their attorney by their side, the family spoke out Friday, saying they don't want another family to experience their unimaginable pain.
"I don't wish this to nobody," Carolina said. "Nobody should go through this."
Chris Hernandez, the city's spokesman, sent the following statement to WDAF:
"The city of Kansas City and its aviation department express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of randy potter. We wish them peace during this difficult time. We are working with all parties to determine the fact involved, including S-P Plus, which manages the 25,000 parking spaces at Kansas City International Airport."
