Family mourns, neighbors in disbelief after 77-year-old New Berlin man found dead in his home

 

NEW BERLIN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Tonight, a family is in mourning and neighbors are in disbelief after a New Berlin man was found dead in his home. The death investigation is spanning two counties. A woman running partially naked through a Cedarburg neighborhood hours before the victim was discovered may be connected.

Family identifies the victim as Richard Platt, a longtime resident of a quiet New Berlin Cul de sac.

That's Platt and his daughter.

His wife passed away years ago, leaving Richard alone in the house they shared on Glen Park Court for more than 30 years.

"If you were out working in the yard, he would come over and chat and he was quite a talker," said Thomas Geske, the victim's neighbor.

Neighbors say Platt's presence on the block will be missed.

"Took care of his house meticulously, working on his truck all the time, working on someone else's car all the time. He was constantly outside," said Geske.

Just after 3:00 p.m. on Monday, the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office received a strange call.

A woman was running through the back yards of homes on Prairie View Road in Cedarburg partially naked, and later, she turned up on Douglas Lane.

The guy who lives there didn't want to go on camera, but he tells us that his dog was staring at their garage, so much so that he decided to go check it out and that's when he found the woman hiding here in the garage inside a garbage bin, partially clothed. He told her to leave. She asked for his car. He said no.

That's when she took off wearing only a shower curtain.

Ozaukee County located the woman who is 42 years old and from Glendale. She told police they ought to do a welfare check down in New Berlin, some 33 miles away.

Police in New Berlin found Platt's home unlocked, and the 77-year-old man dead inside. Detectives went door to door looking for answers.

"Asked them what it's about and they just said it's about Richard and they couldn't really say anything more at that time. We didn't know until the morning that he had died," said Geske.

The Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office is not disclosing Platt's cause of death.

A person of interest has been taken into custody and police say that person knew the victim.