For the family of Eric Bias, demolition of a vacant house in the 1600 block of Normal Avenue in Burley won't come soon enough.

Bias, 20, who lived with his uncle Mitchell Bias in Burley, went missing July 2 and was found July 11 after committing suicide in an abandoned house that had become a teen hangout.

"He was working on a trampoline and teasing his grandmother the last time I saw him," Mitchell Bias said about his nephew, who had lived in his home since October 2006.

"At some point he just walked away. He left the house happy and never came home and I'll probably never have an answer why," Bias said.

Bias filed a missing person's report with the police department and spoke with all of Eric's friends who said they were perplexed about his disappearance.

Bias said his nephew, who suffered from schizophrenia, was no angel and had some scrapes with the law and a penchant for marijuana. But he was trying to turn his life around and planned to return to school.

On July 11, Aldolfo Chapa Saldana was looking for his missing cat in an alley in the 1600 block of Normal Avenue. When he entered a vacant building marked with graffiti and strewn with empty alcohol containers, he found the 20-year-old's body.

"It was a drug and alcohol-infested building that kids hung out in and they shouldn't have been there," Mitchell Bias said.

The tragedy left him questioning why such a dangerous building was allowed to remain within city limits.

"This is something you see in Los Angeles or in a ghetto, but not here," Bias said. "If it would have been boarded up like it is today, he wouldn't have been able to get in."

The owners of the property, Rocky and Stefanie Hensen of Albion, bought it in 2005 and it has been vacant since September 2007.

"We boarded it up several times and had neighbors watching it," Stefanie Hensen said. "I am absolutely sick about it. It will be torn down as soon as possible. This has been so devastating for me. I feel so bad for his family."

Hensen said she and her husband had originally planned to remodel the home, which stands on the back half of a city lot. But it is now beyond repair due to the extent of damage caused by vandals.

Burley City Inspector Gary Pawson said city officials were aware of the property and whenever they drove by to check, it was boarded up.

"If there is nobody living in a house, it doesn't matter if there is a steel door on it, people will get in," Pawson said.

Jessica Osterhout, a neighbor to the property, said she had noticed the door to the house was kicked in a couple of times and had heard it was full of beer cans and graffiti.

"I would be scared walking by if I saw a bunch of kids outside of it," Osterhout said. "I don't know how long it's been empty, but it's been a while."

Pawson said that several years ago a homeless man who was staying in the vacant Y-Dell Motel on East Main Street committed suicide when the police arrived to remove him from the premises. The building has since been torn down.

Pawson said the city has a policy on attractive nuisances or structures that will draw in children. Depending on the condition of the building, the city may require the owners to keep it boarded up. But if the structure is deemed unsafe - with the ceiling and floor caving in - Pawson will take pictures and send them to the owners along with notices regarding the owner's responsibility in demolishing the building.

But if property owners do not respond to the city's requests to tear a building down, the city will do the work and charge the owners. A lien will be placed on the property if unpaid.

The city has condemned three or four structures and regularly has to resecure the old Simplot building on Main Street, Pawson said.

"It's not always so easy to tear these old buildings down. Some of them have asbestos in them and special precautions have to be taken, especially if the city does it," Pawson said. "It can end up as a long, drawn-out court case."

Pawson said the best thing citizens can do if they notice people entering vacant buildings is to call the city.

In memory A celebration of the of life Eric Conley Bias, 20, will be held July 26 at 4 p.m. at the Club Down Under, 109 E. Main St., Burley.