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75-Year-Old Inglewood Man Killed, Decapitated Inside His Apartment

INGLEWOOD (CBSLA.com) — Authorities continue to investigate the death of a 75-year-old man in Inglewood found decapitated.

The gruesome discovery was made at 12:45 p.m. Thursday in an apartment in the 800 block of Glenway Drive.

The victim's cousin said the man's beheaded body was found inside the Villa Glen apartment complex. She identified the victim as Robert Hollis. Hollis was an active churchgoer.

In a FaceTime interview, Cousin Alysia Powell says Hollis' son made the discovery.

"It's so hard to process and so vicious in the manner it was done is so vicious," Powell said.

Powell told CBS2 that Hollis, who everyone nicknamed Mr. Bojangles because of his love of music, was retired but sang in two church choirs.

"Bo was an incredibly kind and loving person. Very much an artist," she said.

She says nothing was stolen from his home and he was even wearing all his jewelry when he was found.

She further explained that the victim's head was not discovered near the body, and couldn't be found within the immediate area.

Inglewood police spent the afternoon and evening collecting evidence. The watch commander said homicide detectives are investigating, but wouldn't confirm how the victim died.

A police dog with officers has arrived on scene presumably to conduct a search. However, all police would report is that a suspect remains on the loose.

His family is confident, though, that there will be justice.

"Whoever did this, please know that you'll be found if you don't come forward yourself," Powell said. "You will be found."

CBS2 also spoke with the ex-wife of the victim, who said they had been married for 26 years. She said he was 80 percent blind and was learning to read Braille and was in the process of getting a service dog.

On Friday, Hollis' cousin Tony Love told CBS2's Dave Lopez that he was "still in shock."

He echoed the sentiments of his other family members when he said Hollis was an incredibly sweet soul.

"The most beautiful person you would ever want to meet," Love said, "He wouldn't hurt a fly, no enemies."

Love told Lopez that Hollis enjoyed a daily walk around the neighborhood. A friend would also take him grocery shopping once a week.

When Hollis didn't show up at the friend's house Wednesday, the friend called Hollis' son who made the gruesome discovery. the following day.

"We all know we are mortal," said friend Evette King, "But we don't expect to be decapitated."

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