Police estimate a man who was found dead Saturday inside his Ashland Park apartment may have died a week earlier.

Deputy Coroner Gene Proctor said the death of James Harold Kelley, 60, is being treated as suspicious, but declined to provide details.

Kelley was found with a contusion on his head, according to Rome Police Department officer Brandon Pledger.

It doesn’t appear to be a homicide, but there are still questions that need answers, Rome police detective Ryan Hutchins said Saturday afternoon.

Kelley’s body is being sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab for autopsy, Proctor added. That is common procedure in a suspicious death.

Kelley lived alone in the apartment.

A friend, Larry Clark, who found Kelley’s body, said he hadn’t heard from Kelley since Nov. 5.

He knocked on the door, but got no answer Saturday. Then, Clark opened the unlocked door and saw Kelley on the floor.

Clark said he drove by the apartment around 8 p.m. on Friday night and noticed Kelley’s third floor balcony door open, but didn’t go upstairs to see if he was home.

(Rome News-Tribune)