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Grocery-store worker falls behind coolers and dies; body found 10 years later

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
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Workers removing shelves and coolers from a former No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in January discovered a body behind one of them.
The remains were recently identified as those of Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, a former employee who had been reported missing November 28, 2009.

Investigators used his parents' DNA to confirm the identity, and the clothes matched the description of his attire at the time he was reported missing, according to Council Bluffs Police Capt. Todd Weddum.

Murillo-Moncada's parents reported their son missing after he became upset and ran out of their home. They told police at the time that he was acting irrationally, possibly because of medication he was taking, Weddum said.

Officers contacted family members, other law enforcement agencies, nearby detention centers and even the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency -- he had been deported to Honduras before making his way back to the United States -- but received no information regarding his possible whereabouts.

Investigators now believe that Murillo-Moncada went to the supermarket and climbed on top of the coolers. The space was used as storage for merchandise, Weddum said, and employees would sometimes go there to hide when they wanted to take an unofficial break.

He is thought to have fallen into the 18-inch gap between the back of the cooler and a wall, where he became trapped. Noise from the coolers' compressors may have concealed any attempts to call for help, according to Weddum.

An autopsy found no signs of trauma, and the case has been deemed an accidental death.

 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Jesus Christ, that's horrifying. Was the supermarket not in business? Cause wouldn't there be a horrible smell after not so long?

It is still in business.

 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
It is still in business.


Correction, this location was vacant when found, but he died 7 years before it closed.


Something doesn't make sense. If employees frequented that spot for unsanctioned breaks, how did anyone not notice the smell?

Former No Frills employees said it was common for workers to be on top of the coolers, because the space was used for storage of goods. Investigators think Murillo went to the store after leaving his home and climbed on top of the coolers. He then fell into a gap of about 18 inches between the back of the cooler and a wall and became trapped.

Shortly after his disappearance in 2009, Murillo’s mother, Ana Moncada, told the Council Bluffs Nonpareil that Murillo went to work on Thanksgiving night and, when he returned home the morning of Nov. 27, seemed disoriented. She took him to see a doctor, who prescribed an antidepressant. Moncada said her son continued to feel disoriented and began to hear voices.

“He was hearing voices that said ‘Eat sugar,’ ” Maria Stockton, a friend who served as translator for his mother, said in 2009. “He felt his heart was beating too hard and thought if he ate sugar, his heart would not beat so hard.”

At the time of his disappearance, he was described as being 5-foot-5 and 140 pounds.

The case has been closed and is classified as an accidental death, police said.
 
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Mista

Banned
The fuck? If the store is out of business I’d understand but I’m sure the body got rotten and someone would’ve smelled? Feel sorry for the lad. RIP
 

JBat

Member
Oh man, me and co-worker were taking about this story this morning. The best we could figure was his body was some how desiccated. Horrible all around. To be that young too...
 
Seems everything in that Superstore Series could be true now. I used to work retail and that was the thing that seemed the least likely to have happend in a store and now it has..
 

NeededSleep

Member
I can't imagine how hellish that was if he somehow survived the fall and was just stuck back there until he died. Reminds me of the same uncomfortable feeling I got about the Nutty Putty cave incident.

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Holy shit, this is messed up.
i just read the article that covered the story about nutty putty cave..... ive always had nightmares about this stuff.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
What kind of a dirty ass store doesn't rotate stock or notice the smell of death? For 10 years? The fuck?
 
10 years.......10 fucking years and they finally notice???!? If I was that family I would sue the fuck out of them. Sounds like the place never gets cleaned

This sounds shady, if the spot was well known for people to hide in to take breaks then why did it take 10 years for someone to find him?
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Well the noise from the coolers was muffling the sound of his screams. I wonder if they were also sucking in the smell.
You ever smelled a dead body? I can barely smell a tree burning but a dead body is just..well death?
 

MetalAlien

Banned
Yikes, that's horrifying and reminds me of this episode of The Rugrats.

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Reminds me of the scene fron the Exorcist II where there is a boy that fell from a mountaintop church long ago that was never found but later Richard Burtons charactor is able to find him wedged into the rocks of the cliff he fell from. The locals freak out and say he has been brushed by the wings of the demon. That is how he was able to find the boy.
 

womfalcs3

Banned
That's an insulting way to go. First, the painful death. Second, that nobody found him for 10 years.

Seems like a plot line on Superstore.
 

Kenpachii

Member
Doesn't make sense.

1) Why would nobody check it out if its frequently used or people know about it. Wouldn't you check there first.
2) If its a horrible noise, how does one sit there to rest even remotely?
3) Horrible smell is not going to conseal him. Specially 7 year in.

Store seemed to be closed for 3 years now and now they found him.

Honestly feels like somebody killed the guy and just throw him in there after a while to make it look like a accident.

Makes no sense.
 

DiscoJer

Member
While you might think the smell would give it away, grocery stores can smell pretty bad at times. While unloading the truck today at work, I kept thinking "What's that awful smell? Smells like something died in here." I just shrugged, I didn't go looking for the source of the smell, it's not my job.
 
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JSoup

Banned
For people asking why they didn't smell anything, go to your local market, open one of the freezer and take deep sniff.
That smell? It's a 1000% stronger when you're fully inside and near the machinery making it, to say nothing of the venting the same machinery also does. I can understand the excuse of 'didn't smell it'. However, that doesn't excuse not being able to find it during full cleanings.
 

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
10 years.......10 fucking years and they finally notice???!? If I was that family I would sue the fuck out of them. Sounds like the place never gets cleaned
There's a very good chance they get sued and lose. It just depends on if there is a statute of limitations for wrongful death in the state.

Edit: Looks like the Statute of Limitations is only two years in Iowa for wrongful death.

For people asking why they didn't smell anything, go to your local market, open one of the freezer and take deep sniff.
That smell? It's a 1000% stronger when you're fully inside and near the machinery making it, to say nothing of the venting the same machinery also does. I can understand the excuse of 'didn't smell it'. However, that doesn't excuse not being able to find it during full cleanings.
You think they did deep cleans on any kind of regular basis?
 
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nocsi

Member
Officers contacted family members, other law enforcement agencies, nearby detention centers and even the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency -- he had been deported to Honduras before making his way back to the United States -- but received no information regarding his possible whereabouts.

Nobody focused on this key piece. Grocery store was hiring illegal immigrants
 

D-Dude

Member
For people asking why they didn't smell anything, go to your local market, open one of the freezer and take deep sniff.
That smell? It's a 1000% stronger when you're fully inside and near the machinery making it, to say nothing of the venting the same machinery also does. I can understand the excuse of 'didn't smell it'. However, that doesn't excuse not being able to find it during full cleanings.

Years ago, I worked in my the funeral business. I had numerous encounters like this, were police or family found a body which sometimes was there for months, even years. The smell is the strongest in the first months, then it goes away. And, in some cases bodies undergo natural mummification. In that case, it doesn't really smell, but has an sour meaty smell. And, like others say, in a store the smell is masked. I could write a book about those years...
 
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Tumle

Member
Nobody focused on this key piece. Grocery store was hiring illegal immigrants
yes this is the real and most important story here.. A store that closed down 3 years ago hired illegal immigrants !!

That is so important for me to know!
now I can turn off my feelings for the dead guy, knowing he was an illegal immigrant, and instead get outraged by this fucking store hiring rapist and murderess!!
 
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