REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENVER - Family members of a west Denver man who collapsed and died on his front porch said a mail carrier walked by the body to deliver the mail, but did nothing to help because he mistook the body for a Halloween display. "I don't know how he sleeps at night," said Hedy Porch, the man's wife.

On Nov. 2, her husband, , was dropped off at home after working the graveyard shift for the Regional Transportation District, but he never made it inside.

"My brother-in-law walked up these steps, got to this step here and collapsed," said Kimberly Cordova, Dale Porch's sister-in law. She pointed to the mailbox just a few feet away.  "So, the mailman literally was right here, and he was right here collapsed on this step."

The grown son of Porch discovered his father about an hour afterward and called 911.  Efforts to resuscitate Porch were unsuccessful.

 Dale Porch was only 46 years old. While waiting for an autopsy report, family members wonder if his death could have been prevented.

"When we found the body later around noon, he was still warm. Maybe if the mailman had done something, he would still be here," said Cordova.

A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service said the agency is investigating. The carrier has been temporarily taken off the route, but officials are defending his actions, saying when he saw the man's body on the ground last Friday, he thought it was a decoration left over from Halloween. "He told us he thought it was a mannequin," said Hedy Porch.

"We do know the carrier delivered mail to the house that day, and he remembered seeing something he thought was related to Halloween," the postal service said in a statement. "When the carrier learned that was not the case, he was shocked and extremely upset."

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