Missing Greensboro man found dead, death ruled homicide

Greensboro police found Douglas Keith Petty dead at a residence in the 1400 block of Dorsey Street after responding around 1 p.m. Thursday to a report of suspicious activity. Investigators identified the deceased man as Petty, 39, and said they are treating his death as a homicide, the 15th in Greensboro this year.

The discovery closed a 10-day gap in a missing-person case that began June 16, when the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said Petty was last seen at about 11 a.m. leaving the Oakdale Mill Road area and heading toward Liberty, North Carolina. Deputies described him as a white male about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

At the time he was reported missing, authorities said Petty may have been wearing either a black hat with an “NY” insignia, a gray T-shirt, blue jeans and tan Timberland boots, or a black T-shirt, blue jeans and black Air Jordan shoes. Those details gave deputies and residents a limited description to work from as the search stretched across Guilford County.

Greensboro police said detectives assisted the sheriff’s office at the Dorsey Street address, where they later confirmed the dead person was Petty. Officers have not released further details about what prompted the suspicious-activity call, what led them inside the residence, or how Petty died, and they said the case remains an active investigation.

The homicide adds to a violent stretch that has already made Petty’s death one of the city’s most consequential cases of the year. For neighbors on Dorsey Street, the police response turned an ordinary residential block into an active crime scene and left a basic public-safety question hanging over the neighborhood: who was in the house, and why did a missing man from the Oakdale Mill Road area end up there.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the P3tips mobile app or at P3tips.com.