Family of former ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ star say police in Oregon town botched his death investigation; $2.2M trial underway

Police in the tiny southern Oregon town of Phoenix so botched an investigation into the death of former "Mickey Mouse Club" TV star Dennis Day that they didn't realize that one of their officers had stepped on his body under a pile of clothes, cracking his skull, in the early days after Day went missing in July 2018.

And Day's body remained there in his home for nearly nine months before the local police called in the help of a much bigger agency — the Oregon State Police — who immediately searched the home with a cadaver dog and found the former child star's body in April 2019. But the body was so decomposed by then that the prosecution couldn't pinpoint the cause of the 76-year-old's death and later accepted a plea deal that would send Day's killer to prison for about four years for criminally negligent homicide.

That's all according to the family of Day, who this week are airing these allegations before a Jackson County jury in a lawsuit against the Phoenix Police Department and Lt. Jeff Price, who headed up the investigation. Day's extended family, including Day's sister, Nelda Adkins, seek $2.2 million for their anguish.

In court papers, the city contends that Day's family had been "estranged from his life for many years" and only after his death did they file a lawsuit and demand a seven-figure sum.

On top of that, in the months leading up to the discovery of Day's body, Phoenix police said they had no indication that Day's killer — 35-year-old Daniel Burda — had concealed his body under that pile of clothes. Price, the police lieutenant, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that officers had combed through Day's residence multiple times and found nothing, according to a 2019 news report.

And despite the lawsuit's claims that a Meals on Wheels worker and neighbors reported a foul odor emanating from the home, police said an officer who responded to the property a few weeks after Day went missing found no "bad smell."

In the opening day of trial Tuesday, The Rogue Valley Times reported that Thomas Armosino, a lawyer defending city police, said the odor often associated with a decomposing body was tough to identify because Day and his husband — who was in the hospital and then transferred to an adult care facility at the time Day went missing — were hoarders. Used colostomy bags littered the home and the smell of cat and dog feces permeated the space, Armosino said.

Day's husband never returned to their home. He died several months later.

According to the lawsuit, Day's sister contends that the police lieutenant told her in January 2019 that police had searched the home with a cadaver dog at some earlier point in time. But the lawsuit contends that the first agency to do so was Oregon State Police, months later, and they immediately found Day's body.

The Rogue Valley Times also reported that Erin Gould, a lawyer representing Day's family, contended on the opening day of trial that the body cam video of the police lieutenant will show that the lieutenant stepped on Day's skull, cracking it, in the initial days or weeks after Day was reported missing.

It wasn't until after a news story about Day's disappearance was published that his extended family learned of his status, according to the lawsuit, which faults police for not notifying them.

The Oregonian/OregonLive published a story about Day's extraordinary life and heartbreaking death in 2019, as the case made national headlines. Day was a beloved television figure from his two years on "The Mickey Mouse Club" from 1955 to 1957. He was an original cast member on the show, which was broadcast intermittently until 1996.

The four-day trial is expected to conclude Friday.

— Aimee Green covers breaking news and the justice system. Reach her at 503-294-5119, or .