In a shocking discovery, Jennifer Maedge from Illinois, US found her 53-year-old husband's body inside a wardrobe eight months after reporting him missing.
On April 27, 2022, Jennifer Maedgereported her husband, Richard Maedge, as a missing person, prompting Troy Police Department to search the property.
As part of the investigation, officers detected a strange odor coming from the family home, leading to at least two searches and getting a plumber to address the source of the smell, which was eventually “fixed.”
The police decided to launch another investigation into the “hoarder home” as they failed to find Richard Maedge anywhere.
“Maedge was last seen leaving his residence wearing blue jeans and blue t-shirt,” a missing persons report stated.
His son, Austin, claimed to have last seen him at work when he went to get a key to a storage unit.
The horrifying discovery of Maedge's body was only made eight months later on December 11, 2022, when Jennifer was searching for Christmas decorations.
She claimed that the closet in the hoarder house was always filled with tonnes of rubbish and she rarely even visited it.
However, when she searched it, she was horrified to discover her husband's body buried deep inside.
By the time they found Richard, his body had already been mummified.
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Richard's death has been ruled as a suicide, as per a County Coroner report, with Troy Police stating that they don't believe there was any foul play involved in his death.
Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn also noted that the concealed room was only big enough for one person.
“Upon opening the door to the concealed storage area, she would then find the decedent’s body and called 9-1-1,” the Coroner added.
"There were no other injuries found during the autopsy examination or evidence found that would indicate anything nefarious regarding Mr. Maedge's death."
In the midst of this devastating situation, Richard's widow expressed her gratitude to the police for their hard work that put her husband to rest.
She told Fox 2: "Even though we didn't want the outcome that we had, it's still an outcome that we can put him to rest."
Jennifer also described her husband, who worked as a maintenance worker, as a “kind” and “creative” person who loved his children and grandchildren and was supportive of them and her.
Jennifer mentioned that even when her husband was missing, she still felt his presence because he was a source of great help and support for his family.
She found it hard to describe what his loss meant to her and his loved ones, saying, “No words in my mind that I could say. He will be deeply missed.”
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