HAMLET — In a last-ditch effort to find relatives, Hamlet Police have released the name and birthdate of the man mauled to death by his dogs Saturday.
David Robert Baber, 65, died when his pit bull and another dog attacked him in the backyard of his home, at 308 W. Hamlet Ave.
Neighbors told police that Baber had a son and daughter, but investigators have not been able to find them. They checked with numerous agencies — both state and federal — before deciding to release the name Thursday.
“I’ve never seen anything like it … in my whole career,” Chief Scott Waters, who was at the man’s house in the wake of the attack, told the Daily Journal earlier in the week. “We’re running into a lot of obstacles.”
Baber had five dogs, which he walked every morning.
Early Saturday, two of the dogs got into a fight. The owner broke them apart, throwing punches.
Later, when the man went back into the yard, the dogs attacked.
Nine-year-old Kanorie Parnell was in the yard with his neighbor when the man was attacked.
“I threw bricks at the dogs to try and get them off of him,” Kanorie said Saturday, as police and sheriff’s officers worked to corral the dogs. “Only they wouldn’t get off of him.”
Kanorie jumped over the fence into his own yard when he saw his efforts were futile.
Hamlet Police and Richmond County sheriff’s deputies corralled the pit bull but had to leave the man lying in the yard, under a sheet, until they could be sure where the other dogs were. At one point, they thought about closing off the street, in case they needed to shoot the second dog.
About 45 minutes after bringing out the pit bull, officers brought the dead man out on a stretcher.
By 3:30 p.m., all of the dogs had been captured and been taken to the Richmond County Animal Shelter.
Baber’s birthdate was Oct. 2, 1952.
Anyone with knowledge of Baber’s relatives is encouraged to call Hamlet Police at 910-582-2551.