WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — West Des Moines police say a report of a deceased person being dumped in a pond was fake.
Sgt. Jason Heintz with the West Des Moines Police Department said an initial call came in around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning from a woman who said her son dumped a body in some water in the area around the library and city hall.
After receiving the call, officers responded to the Garden Ridge Condominiums on Fuller Road. About 15 minutes after, police moved to the pond near city hall, the public library and the Jamie Hurd Amphitheater along Mills Civic Parkway, and began searching in the water.
Over a dozen officers were on scene at the apartments and the pond.
"After the search concluded, no evidence was located indicating a deceased person was in the water," West Des Moines PD said in a release.
36-year-old Mason Kiefer of West Des Moines was charged with third-degree harassment, and police called the report of a deceased person "fictitious."
Court documents accused Kiefer of showing up at his mother's home "unannounced, intoxicated and emotional." He pleaded guilty to the charge and served a day in jail.
Sandy Hoffman, property manager of Garden Ridge Condominiums, said it was shocking to see so many law enforcement vehicles at the property.
"28 years nothing nothing like this has ever happened at this residence so to me it was over the top shocking," Hoffman said.
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