Mayes County Deputies Investigating After Body Found Burned In Vacant Lot

The Mayes County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a man was found burned near Langley. 

The man has recently been identified as Paul Getty. Investigators said he’s not from Mayes County but learned he’s been in the area for the last month. 

Major Rod Howell with the Sheriff’s Office said right now they have way more questions than answers. 

He said Getty was found burned in the grass in a vacant lot with a gas can and lighter nearby, but they don’t know if it was a homicide or an accident. Investigators said a neighbor found Getty in the lot in the back of a mobile home park. 

“When you don’t have a lot of questions answered from the scene, then you’ve got a scene where a body has been burned, it burns up anything of evidentiary value. It makes it difficult,” said Howell. 

Howell said they have very little information about Getty, which is making their investigation tough. They learned he’s from out of state and that’s about it.

“With him being in this area it kind of gives us pause. Why? Who, what, when, where, why and how is what we need to answer,” said Howell. 

Howell said the Medical Examiner’s office answered some of their questions, but he said they really need help from the community. 

"If you knew him, if you knew his whereabouts, if you happened to see him. Like at a convenience store, ‘yeah we saw him in Langley about a week ago,’ anything like that would be helpful and beneficial for us,” said Howell. 

Howell said has worked hundreds of deaths in his career but said this one may be the most frustrating because they aren’t getting the answers they need. 

“This person is someone’s son, he’s someone’s brother, he’s someone’s husband. We would like to do the best job we can for him and advocate for him,” Howell said. “It’s going to be the old-fashioned way. We’ve had to knock on a lot of doors, ask a lot of questions, we are going to continue on until we find a manner and cause of death.” 

If you have any information about Getty, you are asked to call the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office at 918-825-3535.