911 call, police records offer new details about Springfield man’s suspicious death

Springfield police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a 78-year-old man’s death that they now have called suspicious.

Springfield resident John Hungerford was found dead on Thursday at his home at 2748 Hilltop Ave.

The Springfield Police Division on Friday announced officers are investigating Hungerford’s death as a homicide due to suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, according to a press release from the city.

Friends of Hungerford grew worried about the man after not seeing him for days and noticing mail piled up in his mailbox, which they said was an unusual sight at Hungerford’s residence, according to a Springfield Police Division incident report.

One friend climbed into Hungerford’s house through an unlocked window and found him lying on the kitchen floor.

The friend reported to dispatchers that Hungerford was “all bruised up,” according to 911 records.

“I came into his house and he’s laying there dead,” the caller said. “And I think he’s gotten beat up, it looks like to me ... Like somebody’s killed him.”

Police and medics arrived on Thursday afternoon and found Hungerford on the kitchen floor with blood on his face. Hungerford’s body was released to the Clark County Coroner’s Office, according to the incident report.

Hungerford previously worked at Lagonda Tool. His is survived by his daughter, Tina Hungerford-Perry; grandsons; great-grandchildren; sisters; and numerous nieces and nephews, according to his obituary. No services are planned for him at this time, according to Jones-Kenney-Zechman Funeral Home.

Police said that no charges have been filed in connection to Hungerford’s death as of Monday.

Investigators asked that anyone with information about Hungerford’s death contact the Springfield Police Division at 937-324-7716.

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