KATC.comDALLAS (AP) – A Dallas house was so jammed with clutter that it took two days before the homeowner’s body was finally discovered amid the debris, authorities said Friday.
Only after city officials brought in a contractor to remove piles of debris from the home did cadaver dogs help crews in protective suits locate the 67-year-old man Thursday.
At one point during the search, emergency workers who had looked through multiple piles of clutter without finding the man cut holes in the roof to gain access through the attic. The debris reached to the ceiling in some areas.
The carcasses of two dogs and a raccoon found amid the squalor distracted cadaver dogs used in the search. Also found were gallon milk jugs filled with urine as the bathroom was inaccessible because of the clutter.
“We just could not get around or find anything,” said Dallas Fire-Rescue Lt. Joel Lavender.
Authorities went to the house last weekend on a welfare check after the unidentified man had not been heard from since March 15.
Workers wearing protective suits and breathing gear could be seen this week removing loads of trash from the home, including outdated electronics.
“It honestly looks as though if you didn’t throw away anything – anything at all for, say, 20 years,” neighbor Mary Pat Rodriguez told Dallas station WFAA-TV. “That’s what your house would look like inside.”
It’s not clear if foul play is suspected in the man’s death. Homicide detectives are helping with the investigation, but police didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking details about those detectives’ involvement.
A Chihuahua was alive amid the disarray. Leo Gregg, a friend of the man, told local television stations he is now caring for the dog named Buddy.
“Gave him a bath, cleaned him up,” Gregg said. “I knew that dog meant everything to him.”
http://www.katc.com/news/dallas-man-found-dead-in-home-filled-with-clutter/
This is really a sad article. Yea Missy living in america – I guess that this is what the land of the free and the home of the brave is all about isn`t it
Thanks for posting this article Missy. This article is reality fora lot of people here in america to read and see as it is real america
This guy that took in his chihuahua Is a really good guy seems to me and deserves a good pat on the back and more, yes he is what we are supposed to bt about in america, yea this is what that guy who was found dead would have probobly wanted as he was a good guy I bet!!
Yea Missy, Awesome article – people need to know more about these things instead of putting them on the back burner to just be forgotton about
Hey Missy/bulldog I will be callin` ya this morning OK . Not mailin ya OK Just sayin my bro`s and sisters Yea we love you guy`s here where I am from
Wife had a cousin who lived and died exactly like this, didn’t show up for work and they found him in his “nest” that he had built up on top of some clutter. You see hoarding on T.V. but till you walk into a house and see it in every room (and sometimes reaching to the ceiling in some areas) for yourself it is hard to imagine how bad it can get. Nobody had a clue about how he lived, only that he always went to others houses and no one ever went inside his home. I guess when your poor and cant afford much, trash pick up is something that is sacrificed.
Yes I gotta agree with ya as i have had lived that way in the past and I must say that there is nothing wrong with that Barry. I didn`t like it then but it was honest Barry. Stand tall Barry hard as it is You just stand tall My Friend — shit i would put ya up if ya needed be so stand tall Barry
I think they cut holes in the roof to let some of the stench out.
There was a famous pair of brothers who lived like this in NYC. I can’t remember their names, but they basically had paths cut through the mountains of crap they collected all their lives.
“It’s not clear if foul play is suspected in the man’s death.”
If anyone would want to kill this guy, I’d guess it would be a neighbor who couldn’t stand the stench any longer, but it’s doubtful. I think they should consider that he probably died because living in a mountain of crap is less than healthy.
Almost exactly two years ago, a friend of ours whom I used to clean his house and feed his dogs (and my husband helped with all the squalor clean up), died in pretty much the same conditions (his dogs were kept outside and he only saw them to feed them–this is cold weather we’re talking about–he only let them in when temps got around freezing or below). And guess who found him dead?
Me.