Nearly eight months after his wife reported him missing, a man was discovered deceased. Several media sources are reporting that he was discovered in
Nearly eight months after his wife reported him missing, a man was discovered deceased. Several media sources are reporting that he was discovered in his own home, which had been searched multiple times by law enforcement officers.
According to authorities, Richard Maedge’s wife reported him missing in April after she claimed to have spoken with him as he was heading for work. When she arrived at her house, she discovered his car outside and his wallet and keys inside, but her husband was nowhere to be found, said KTVI.
Maedge was not to be found anywhere despite a thorough investigation of the “hoarder home” by the police.
Jennifer Maedge, Maedge’s wife, made a second call to the police to report the smell. A second search by officials turned up nothing, but they did pick up on the scent.
After that, Jennifer Maedge called a plumber, who sealed a sewer pipe in the basement of the house to stop the odor.
Jennifer Maedge found her husband’s corpse in a hidden closet months later when she went there to get a container of Christmas decorations, according to KTVI.
Richard Maedge’s body was in a mummified state, according to Kelly Rogers, the chief deputy coroner for Madison County. Rogers stated that the lack of a strong odor that a dried-out body may emit may have prevented police from discovering his remains.
Authorities think Richard Maedge committed suicide.
The Belleville News-Democrat reported that other family members contend that police didn’t do enough to originally find Richard Maedge’s body, despite Jennifer Maedge’s support for the police in the investigation.
As said on the Belleville News-Democrat, Marilyn Toliver, Richard Maedge’s sister, said police should have looked for her brother more actively.
The newspaper quoted Troy Police Chief Brent Shownes as saying last week that his department searched the house and the neighborhood multiple times, used K-9 for tracking, sent out a search and rescue team with several cadaver dogs, requested phone carrier GPS information, and responded to a call of a strong odor and discovered a sewer pipe.
