Brian Egg, 65, was reported missing in late July after family and friends became concerned that they hadn’t had contact with him since June
A headless corpse has been discovered stuffed inside a fish tank inside the San Francisco home of a man who has been missing for months.
Brian Egg, 65, was reported missing in late July after family and friends became concerned that they hadn’t had contact with him since June.
But it was a neighbor’s phone call that prompted the police visit on August 14 after they spotted Egg’s apartment with crime-scene tape around it and a private crime-scene cleaner and a stranger outside.
Responding officers reported a strong decaying odor and cleaning supplies inside and arrested the stranger, Robert McCaffrey, 52, on suspicion of homicide, identity theft and other charges.
Investigators returned the next day with a search warrant and dogs trained in finding bodies, police Commander Greg McEachern said.
After two days of searching the house, they found the body stuffed in a fish tank ‘in a concealed part of the home,’ McEachern said.
Police also arrested Lance Silva, 39, who was also booked on suspicion of homicide and identity theft, he said.
Neither have been charged after the San Francisco district attorney’s office said it required more evidence to charge the men, including cause of death and the identity of the body found, but both remain ‘people of interest.’
Investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy which will provide the official cause of death and identification of the body.
McCaffrey has been released from jail, while Silva was transferred to Alameda County jail, where he is being held on an alleged probation violation.
Police are confident they can arrest McCaffrey if the district attorney files charges, McEachern said.
His body was discovered inside a fish tank at his San Francisco home (pictured) on August 17
Alameda County jail records don’t indicate if Silva is represented by an attorney. Police didn’t disclose a home address for McCaffrey, and he could not be reached for comment.
Officers in early August visited Egg’s home three times and left after each visit when no one answered the door, McEachern said. There were no signs of foul play, he said.
‘We don’t make entry into people’s homes just because there’s a missing person’s report,’ McEachern said.
NBC reports that Egg, a former bartender in legendary gay bar The Stud who neighbors described as ‘eccentric’, would often let homeless people stay in his San Francisco home.
The two police arrested in connection with his murder were reportedly living in his home after his death and told police, during their visits, that Egg was on vacation.