Updated: August 11, 2021 with new information.

On Aug. 6, 2021, at 4:20 p.m., the Goldsboro Police Department took a report of a missing 71-year-old male, Walter Lee Johnson. Mr. Johnson was last seen at his residence on Swan Street in Goldsboro some time that morning. Mr. Johnson suffers many medical complications and was considered “at risk.” A Silver Alert was initiated for locating Mr. Johnson.

On Aug. 9, Mr. Johnson had not been located and had not returned home. Investigators with Goldsboro Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division (CID) initiated a neighborhood canvass and began interviewing residents in the neighborhood. The search was suspended because of darkness.

At approximately 8:44 a.m. Aug. 10, CID investigators resumed their canvass and area search of Mr. Johnson’s neighborhood. At approximately 9:10 a.m., Mr. Johnson’s body was discovered in the ditch in the 800 block of N. Center Street. Family was notified, and Mr. Johnson’s body was taken to the morgue pending an autopsy to determine cause of death.

On Aug. 11, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner advised that there are no signs of foul play in the death of Walter Lee Johnson. The official report will be made available at a later time. This investigation is now suspended and will be closed upon receipt of the official autopsy report.