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Community search party finds body of disabled man in Newport News

A community-organized search party was looking for 31-year-old Andre Grady. They found his body behind a house on the block.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newport News police identified the man found dead on 24th Street on Saturday morning.

PIO Brandon Maynard said police were dispatched around 9:58 a.m. to a code blue in the 800 block of 24th Street.

Officers found 31-year-old Andre Grady, of Newport News. He was pronounced dead by medics.

A community-organized search party was looking for Grady. They found his body behind a house on the block.

"We found a hat first that had blood on it," said 'Us 4 Us' Foundation Founder David Wilson. 

"But, we saw like a hole in the back of the house. There was a board covering it. We all looked and we ended up seeing his shoes and legs.”

Wilson said Grady used a wheelchair to get around. He said tracks from the chair led them to the house. 

Local activist Yugonda Sample-Jones said the search party helped them find Grady's body quickly.

“David was able to wake people up and just organizing a search party," Sample-Jones said. "That is something I haven’t seen in my 14 years of being in Newport News.”

Wilson said everyone in the neighborhood knew Grady. 

"I don’t know anyone that had any problems with him or anything like that," Wilson said. "It was always love, when we saw Dre."

Grady's body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death. 

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Crime Line at 1–888-LOCK-U-UP. (1–888–562–5887) or go online at P3tips.com.

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