KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man was found dead early Friday as someone called 911 for a prowler in a Kansas City North neighborhood.

FOX4 has learned the man who died welcomed another man into his home who’s now in police custody. The result is a situation with a fair amount of mystery.

The Kansas City Police Department isn’t saying much about the homicide on N.W. 88th Terrace and Broadway Street, but officials said the man who died was 56-year-old Daniel Lainson.

Neighbors said he moved into the area after his wife died after about 4 years ago. So far, they said they have no clear picture about what may have motivated the violence.

A midnight call to 911 about a prowler came one block away from the home where Kimberly Stanton said Lainson lived in the basement.

She described him as a man who always closed the garage, and an open door tipped her off that something was wrong.

“Had to take the door, their basement door, off the hinges so we could get down there to see what happened. But I didn’t go down there. My sister did,” Stanton said. “And that’s when she found him on the floor in the fetal position.”

“She just took a little peek, and she hurried up the stairs crying,” Stanton added.

Stanton said they didn’t hear any noises or screaming but later learned from police that authorities took a man into custody for questioning. He was a visitor who Lainson knew and, according to family, also watched out for.

“Being kind to him and hanging out with him, you know? Chat or do some stuff outside together,” Stanton said.

“When they caught him, he said he was covered in blood, and they said he had a knife on him with blood on it,” Stanton said. “So I don’t know which way to go here. I don’t know if he got cut by a knife or both, a baseball bat and a knife.”

“It’s just like, why’d it happen to him? You know? He was trying to help this guy out,” Stanton said.

Investigators have not said how Lainson died. On Friday, they would only say it was bodily trauma.

So far, there are no charges against the man in custody. FOX4 has reached out to the Clay County prosecutor for more details, but we have not heard back.