Removing bomb, German police find body

Police evacuating homes to dispose of a World War II-era bomb in a town in Germany found something else to dispose of -- a body. Authorities had been digging under a home for two weeks to dispose of a 500-pound American bomb discovered nearly 25 feet under a home in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, The Local.de. reported. Engineers were ready to diffuse the bomb Monday afternoon after police ordered about 650 people within a 250-meter (820-foot) radius of the bomb to evacuate. Some residents refused to leave and police kicked in their doors to force them out of their homes. At one unresponsive residence, police forced their way in and found a man dead. The 51-year-old man had been dead "for some time," said a spokesman for the fire service. The man's mother, who lived with him, had dementia and had not realized he was dead. The body was taken to a hospital, where physicians determined he had died of natural causes. Bomb removal teams later removed the bomb with a large vacuum-like device. Residents were allowed to return to their homes that evening.