by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The body of a 48-year-old Wellington man was discovered on Sunday, Jan. 6 from a death which was estimated to have occurred sometime in September or October, according to Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers.

The body of Edward Byers, 48, of Wellington was discovered about 3.5 miles north of South Haven on a farmstead, about a half-mile west of U.S. 81 on 140th St. South.

Chambers said Sunday mid-morning, Chad Harris of South Haven, who was at the farmstead, was surveying the property thinking about building a home there.

As he was looking through the various silos and barns, owned by Dale and Roberta Byers, Harris discovered a mummified body when he opened a old hay barn. An autopsy report from a forensic center revealed that Byers had died of natural causes and there were no signs of body trauma or foul play, Chambers said.

Byers was a periodical prisoner, Chambers said, who had repeatedly been in and out of jail at various facilities in the region including the Sumner County jail in Wellington. Chambers said he had been released from Sumner County Detention Center in February.

Chambers said witnesses told the sheriff’s office, that Byers was last seen alive in June when his dad, Leroy, had dropped him off at the farmstead.  Laird Bell, born in 1929, is a renter on the farmstead, who lives there alone and does not help with the farming. Bell told the Sheriff’s office he never saw Byers throughout the time period from June to January.

Chambers said there was some indication that Byers may have been camping out in a nearby wooded area and may have snuck toward the house to get water periodically. Byers was described as a loner who rarely spoke to his family. Chambers said family members told deputies they thought he was back in jail at the time of the disappearance. It was not unusual for family members not to communicate with Byers for a lengthy amount of time.

When the body was discovered, Byers was wearing cut-off jeans and no shirt sitting in a hallway of the old hay barn that at one time was being used to keep horses and contained an old hay baler lift.

Chambers said his body had not completely decayed which indicated to him that since he was wearing only a pair of shorts it was hot during the day, but it was cold enough in the evening to halt the decaying process.

He said the barn was located about 200 to 300 yards east of the house, so a decaying smell may have not been noticeable to the elderly man unless there was wind coming directly from the east – which rarely occurs.

Chambers said Byers was identified the day of his discovery  by authorities because of a lion tattoo on his arm.

Funeral services will be held Saturday. Byers obituary is here.