After an elderly man had not been seen for a few days, a friend became concerned.

That is when police and firefighters broke into his home and found the man dead.

The tragic discovery was made at a home in the 200 block of East Dubail Street on South Bend's south side.

A police guard has been stationed there all day, keeping watch over the man's home.

Detectives are investigating what caused the man's death.

A friend of the man, who police say was in his 70's, called South Bend police this morning after the elderly gentleman had not been seen for several days.

South bend firefighters were called to break-in to the home, and it was then that police found the man dead.

But, without a clear-cut cause of death, police are handling it
Capt. Phil Trent of the South Bend Police explains, "We're gonna document it, and we're gonna' seal it, and wait for an autopsy. We're gonna' wait for a forensic pathologist to make a determination on a cause of death. And that's about the only thing that makes it suspicious right now is that there's no cause of death that's been determined."

Police expect that the autopsy of the man should shed some light on how the man died and whether it was a natural death or suspicious.