Written by:
Associated Press
April 7, 2008
Paperwork in the boxes could link them to wrestler Mike Knox, according to police.
Judson Powell said at first his adult daughter didn’t know what she’d found when she opened the door to a crawl space. It looked like two ordinary shoe boxes.
"I guess she opened the box and when she saw it, she panicked and called for me and I was like, ‘Don't touch it,’" said Powell.
Inside they saw different bottles and vials of liquid. Several were marked as steroids and another had a plain, black label. There were also dozens of syringes.
“My original thought was, ‘Who could be so dumb as to leave something like this here,’ and my second thought, was ‘Oh my God, my kids sleep right in the next room,’” said Powell.
The room used to be rented by professional wrestlers, according to public records.
The second shoe box had contracts and pay stubs from World Wrestling Entertainment for Mike Hettinga, who goes by the name Mike Knox.
Knox currently wrestles on the Extreme Championship Wrestling circuit. Police confirmed the WWE has already called to help with the investigation.
"They certainly were proactive and contacted me a little while ago upon learning of this investigation and are willing to cooperate and do whatever they can do to help us with it,” said Capt. Jason Bolton with the Henry County Police Department.
As for the Powells, they said they are still amazed at what they found and they’re hoping there are no more surprises.
“I guess they were maybe trying to hide it and maybe they hid it from themselves and forgot to take it with them,” said Powell.
Police said the first step will be to test the drugs and to confirm whether the wrestler had any prescriptions for them.
Authorities said they are just getting started on the investigation but they said it could lead to criminal charges.
The WWE released a statement which said at one time, "...four professional wrestlers resided at the Locust Grove address, only one of whom is currently an active performer under a WWE contract. This performer has denied to WWE officials, as well as to Henry County Police Department officials, that the items discovered in this home belong to him."
The statement goes on to say the WWE's policy prohibits the use or possession of performance enhancing drugs.
