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When Richard Maedge, 53, disappeared from their home in April 2022, his wife immediately contacted the authorities to report a missing person. Richard had contacted her to say he was leaving work, but when she arrived home she found his car in the driveway, but no sign of her husband. A search for the man was conducted, but he was never found.
Following the initial investigation, Jennifer Maedge then contacted the police for a second time to report a bad smell in their house. At the time, the Illinois woman thought that it may be the body of her husband, but after searching the house again, they still found no trace of the man. At the time, the house was reported to have a “sewer-like” smell and police described it as a ‘hoarder-house’.
According to People, the mystery was finally solved 8 months later when Jennifer went searching for Christmas decorations inside their obviously cluttered home and ended up finding the body of her husband inside a hidden closet under the stairs.
“I decided to put the Christmas tree up, and I was looking for a tote of Christmas ornaments, and that’s when I discovered him. He had committed suicide.”
Madison County Coroner’s Office also confirmed that his death was a suicide last week as no evidence of foul play was found during the autopsy. The body was in a mummified state, and this, according to authorities, could be why the smell was not overpowering.
As horrifying as the thought of unknowingly living with a corpse in the house is, this incident is not unique. There are horrific tales of people disappearing, only to be found years later still within the house where they lived.
Perhaps one of the creepier cases is of Joann Nichols, 55, who was found inside a “false wall” in the apartment she shared with her husband. Joann had been reported missing in 1985, and her skeletal remains were only found in 2013. Her husband at the time was suspected of having been involved in her disappearance. Earlier this year, the bodies of Shelvagean Rhoden and her son, Jimmie Rhoden, were found in their home more than a year after they died.
If macabre stories like this are your thing, you can check out some similar ones here.
