The Dallas Police Department says Ron Shumway of 725 N. Winnetka has been missing since April 23, one day after his birthday.

Yet there is his notarized signature on a real estate document from June 22.

Sean Chien, a residential investor, bought the house from Shumway. He said in a phone interview that Shumway was present at the closing in June. Shown a picture of the missing man, however, Chien texted, “that’s not him.”

A home investor working on the house uncovered a human body while digging up a concrete slab in the backyard Sept. 26. The body has not been identified, according to the Dallas Police Department. Two days ago, the police put out a missing person notice on Shumway, requesting that anyone who knows him or any of his family contact the department’s homicide unit.

Who was at the table when 725 N. Winnetka closed? Records show it was Shumway. Shumway’s broker in the sale, Connor Steinbrook, has not returned a call seeking comment. (Correction: Steinbrook does not have a real estate license, but Chien says he was at the closing representing Shumway)

The house is actually a duplex where neighbors say Shumway lived with his mother until her death. Chien says he believed no one lived there; the seller told him an artist used it for a sculpture studio, he says. The previous resident hadn’t moved out, says Chien, adding that the house was filthy and cluttered with empty beer cans and rum bottles. He paid a crew of guys to haul the trash out of the house, he says.

Neighbors say Shumway was a nuisance; he reportedly yelled at neighbors, started feuds over political signs and chased high school students walking to school. He was an Internet troll to whom no friend I have been able to find. A former coworker who worked with Shumway at an AT&T store in Addison in 2008, says he was very strange. The man made odd facial expressions and was not well-liked by customers. Eventually, he was fired, says the former coworker, who declined to be identified.

Shumway has a criminal record in Dallas County, with convictions for assault, theft and drug possession, among other crimes.

The Dallas Police Department has declined our request for an interview and has not answered any questions related to this case.

Chien declined to say how much he paid for Shumway’s house. Records show that someone paid off an existing lien of $56,900 the day before the sale closed on the house.

All of the real estate records we have found on this case are available on Scribd.