Son allegedly kept long-dead father in unplugged freezer because every time he tried to dump him in desert there were ‘always people out there’

An Arizona man wanted to keep living in his house, so he kept his dead father in a freezer in the backyard, police in the Grand Canyon State say.

Joseph Daniel Hill Jr., 51, stands accused of one count each of failure to report a death , a misdemeanor, and one count of concealing a dead body , a felony, according to the Tempe Police Department.

More charges could be in the offing, police say.

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    Last week, officers allegedly received a tip about someone’s body being stored at the residence on Dorsey Lane in Tempe’s Optimist Park neighborhood. The large city is one of many distinct municipalities located in the broader Phoenix metro area.

    On Oct. 22, the same day they received the tip, officers made contact with the defendant and requested permission to enter and search the premises, according to law enforcement sources cited by Phoenix-based CBS affiliate KPHO . The defendant declined — but allegedly mentioned something about his father dying several years prior.

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