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BURLINGTON (MCT) — A man reported missing to Burlington police in May was found dead Tuesday in a shed that was never searched by investigators and is in the back yard of the man's Tarleton Avenue home.

The death of the 57-year-old man is being investigated, but police say it appears to be a suicide. He was found in the shed, where he apparently hanged himself. The shed is located in the middle of a dog lot, said Burlington Police Assistant Chief Chris Verdeck.

"I want to be honest," Verdeck said. "It was an oversight that caused the delay in finding him, and it has been addressed. It was a detail that was overlooked."

The man's wife reported her husband missing to police May 4. She last saw him about 1:45 p.m. April 29 at their home.

"He had a history of being gone for weeks on end. I guess she figured he was gone and was going to come back," said Verdeck, explaining the wife's delay in reporting her husband missing.

A patrol officer who took the initial report searched the house, including the basement, but he didn't search the shed in the back yard. The detective who followed up also didn't search the shed. A detective went back to the home Tuesday after the wife went to the police department to talk about the case. During the conversation, she mentioned that she didn't think anyone had looked in the storage shed, said Burlington police Capt. Steve Smith.

Police went back out to the property and found the man's body in the shed. It appears he had been dead for awhile. The medical examiner was contacted, and the man's body was taken to the state Medical Examiner's office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy, Verdeck said.

Animal control had to be called in to help deal with the dog, which belonged to the man and is a pit-bull mix. The dog was in the dog lot where the shed is located. There was a tractor in front of the gate. The wife didn't deal with the dog, although she had been feeding it since her husband's disappearance, Smith said.

"Nobody ever goes back there from what I've been told," said Verdeck, although he made it clear he wasn't trying to make an excuse for the oversight.

"Bottom line is we overlooked it," Verdeck said. "We should have found him the day he was reported missing. That will not happen again."

Detectives have already been talked to about the mistake, Verdeck said. The patrol officer still needs to be addressed.

"Everybody is going to be refreshed that the first thing you do in any missing person's case is search any area related to the person's house," Verdeck said.

Since it was five days before the wife reported her husband missing, Verdeck is fairly certain police wouldn't have found him alive. But investigators have spent time and resources since the initial report trying to find the man when he was more than likely in his backyard the entire time.

"We can't overlook the details, and that's what happened in this case, and quite frankly, it put mud in our face," Verdeck said.