Body found in van outside Walmart in Cumming, deputies investigate

A teenage Walmart employee’s call about a suspicious van led Forsyth County deputies to a grim discovery outside the Peachtree Parkway store in Cumming: a dead man found in the back of the vehicle on a mattress. Authorities said there was no immediate indication the public was in danger as they worked the scene with fire personnel and the coroner’s office.

The employee called 911 after noticing the van in the parking lot, and the store manager told investigators the vehicle had not moved for a couple of days and had a “nasty odor” coming from it. When responders reached the Walmart, they found the body in the rear of the van.

Deputies, Forsyth County Fire EMS and the Forsyth County coroner’s office responded to the parking lot, where crews moved the mattress onto a tarp and then placed the body into body bags to help limit the smell. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said the man had not yet been identified.

A license plate check showed the van carried a Wisconsin tag registered to a 66-year-old, but officials said it was not immediately clear whether that person was the dead man found inside. The sheriff’s office had not released a cause of death or any other identifying details as of June 23, 2026, while the death investigation continued.

The case adds to a run of high-profile death investigations in Forsyth County this year, including a March 13 body found near businesses in Cumming and an April 2 homicide-related identification in the city. It also comes amid recent county cases that have drawn close attention around Cumming and Lake Lanier, where investigators have been dealing with a steady stream of death-related calls in 2026.