Body found in retention pond near I-485

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Hours after a man's body was pulled from a retention pond in south Charlotte, a family told Eyewitness News it was their missing brother.

Family members identified the man as 60-year-old Donnie Crosby.

For the last month, Vivian McManus said she had been praying that she would hear from her older brother and roommate, Donnie Crosby. She said he was last seen after he was released from the Mecklenburg County Jail on misdemeanor charges the night of Oct. 11.

"I always felt in my heart that's something was really wrong because this is something he would never do," McManus said.

The family reported Crosby missing, and hung up fliers in Uptown and south Charlotte, but heard nothing.

Tuesday afternoon, police said employees of a car dealership were doing a test drive in the parking lot of the Carolina Pavillion shopping center off South Boulevard when they spotted a body in a nearby retention pond. A short time later, McManus got a call from her sister.

CHOPPER 9: Body found in pond in south Charlotte

"We got a call that the police (were) at her house," McManus said. "They had identified him. That was him."

McManus said her brother used to catch the bus and light rail not far from the scene near 485, but that he would never go to the shopping center.

"My brother would never be down in that area, never," McManus said.

The family believes Crosby's death was criminal.

"I think it's a homicide," McManus said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police told Eyewitness News the investigation is still in its early stages and detectives are waiting for an autopsy report to determine how the man died.

WSOC