Man found dead with gunshot wound

HARLINGEN — Police are investigating the death of a 38-year-old Harlingen man who was found with an apparent gunshot wound to the head in a drainage ditch on the city’s west side.

The body of Sonny Kelm was found by police officers shortly after 3:30 p.m. Friday in a ditch behind homes in the 200 block of Sendero East Street, according to a police news release.

Officers were responding to a call about a “welfare concern” and talked to a 31-year-old woman who said she was “concerned for the welfare of her ex-boyfriend,” the release said.

Officers searched the area and found the man’s body in a ditch behind the home.

“The male subject had suffered what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head and was deceased,” the release said.
Kelm was pronounced dead at 5:55 p.m. and an autopsy was ordered.

The home is located in a new subdivision near Lewis Lane. Only five houses are on the block. A drainage ditch runs behind four of the homes on the street’s east side.

A woman who answered the door at one house Saturday morning said she had been living there for only about two years. She said the man who was found dead had been living next door to her for only about a year to 18 months.

She said she was not home when the body was found, but arrived home from work to find police officers and other officials on
her street.

A woman who answered the door at the house next door declined to comment.