Source: ‘Connection’ between Hernandez, dead man

Associated Press

boston, Mass.

A man found dead in an industrial park about a mile from New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez’s house was a semi-pro football player with connections to Hernandez, his family said Wednesday.

Ursula Ward said police told her the body was that of her son Odin Lloyd, who played for the Boston Bandits.

“My son is a wonderful child,” she said, crying as she spoke outside the family’s home in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. “He’s a family guy. He hasn’t done anything to hurt anyone.”

Ward would not say how Lloyd knew Hernandez and did not say if police told her how her son died. Earlier, an uncle said Lloyd had a connection to Hernandez but wouldn’t elaborate.

State police returned for the second day Wednesday to Hernandez’s sprawling home in an upscale subdivision in North Attleborough, on the Rhode Island state line not far from the Patriots’ stadium in Foxborough. They referred questions about their investigation to Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter, who released no information about the case.

Hernandez attorney Michael Fee acknowledged media reports about the state police search of Hernandez’s home as part of an investigation but said he and the player wouldn’t have any comment on it.

Sports Illustrated, citing an unidentified source, reported Tuesday that Hernandez was not believed to be a suspect in what was being treated as a possible homicide.

Two troopers knocked on the door of Hernandez’s house Wednesday morning, but no one answered. The night before, police spent hours there as another group of officers searched the industrial park.

Later Wednesday, at least seven state troopers searched both sides of a road just off the street where Hernandez lives. The officers used thin poles to pull back plants and search through undergrowth along the road.

Hernandez returned home during the early afternoon Wednesday, wearing a Patriots sweatshirt and a red hat and carrying what looked like a sports drink. He did not speak to a crowd of reporters staked out about 100 feet away.