A retired Navy chief was discovered in his Texas apartment earlier this month after going missing roughly three years ago. WFAA, an ABC affiliate spoke with the mother of the decorated veteran, who is now looking for answers.
According to reports, the remains of Ronald Wayne White were found on Nov. 12, at his apartment in DeSoto, Texas. The medical examiner’s office concluded that the would-be 54-year-old had been dead in his suburban Dallas residence for “an extended period of time.”
White’s mother, Doris Stevens, told reporters that she last spoke to her son in 2016. Diabetes medication found in White’s apartment also suggests that he died around that time.
White told WFAA that she typically spoke to her son at least twice a month regardless of where he was in the world. She grew concerned in February of 2017 after the two went months without speaking. Her suspicions intensified when she couldn’t reach him on his birthday in April of that year. White says she tried to file a missing person report to receive help from police in locating her son, but due to his age and tendency to travel, she was denied.
(image provided to news outlets by mother Doris Stevens)
The family did not have the financial resources to hire a private investigator, so individual members tried locating White at his known addresses. Those attempts were unsuccessful. He was later found on the floor of a residence he rented, unknown to his family, at the DeSoto Town Center Apartments. Staff at the complex found him after being called to investigate a number of units who were not using water.
According to DeSoto police, White was on a month to month lease that was paid through an automatic withdrawal from an account where he received his Navy retirement. White had gone through a divorce roughly 20 years earlier and was single with adult children. His mother, riddled with unanswered questions, says she can barely cope.
The apartment complex where he was found is said to be cooperating with the police. Funeral arrangements for the veteran are still pending as medical examiners run tests to try to determine a cause of death.