A woman made a horrific discovery after finding her husband’s body inside of a wardrobe eight months after she reported him missing.
Richard Maedge was found inside of a wardrobe at the Illinois home he shared with wife Jennifer Maedge.
It was on the afternoon of 27 April 2022 when he was declared missing.
Troy Police Department went and searched the property at the time, discovering a strange odour coming from the family home and reportedly searched the property at least twice while a plumber was also said to have eventually 'fixed the smell'.
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At the time of the search, police described the property as a 'hoarder home', but failed to find Richard anywhere, which resulted in an investigation being launched into his disappearance.
A missing person’s report claimed that 'Maedge was last seen leaving his residence wearing blue jeans and blue t-shirt'.
His son Austin also told people that he last saw his father at work when he went to get a key to a storage unit.
But on 11 December 2022 Jennifer went to retrieve some Christmas decorations to dress up the family home when she found her husband's body.
At the time, Jennifer claimed she rarely visited the closet as it was always stuffed with rubbish.
It was during her search that she found her husband's corpse buried deep into the wardrobe.
Apparently, his body was mummified by the time he was discovered by his wife, but no foul play was involved.
The coroner later ruled that his death has been a suicide, and even though the circumstances were not great, Jennifer thanked police for their work.
"Even though we didn't want the outcome that we had, it's still an outcome that we can put him to rest," she told Fox 2.
Coroner Steve Nonn, of Madison County Coroner’s Office, said: “The area in the concealed room was only big enough for one person to occupy it.
“Upon opening the door to the concealed storage area, she would then find the decedent’s body and called 9-1-1.
"There were no other injuries found during the autopsy examination or evidence found that would indicate anything nefarious regarding Mr. Maedge's death," the coroner added.
Richard's sister, Marilyn Toliver, said: "Even though we didn't want the outcome that we had, it's still an outcome that we can put him to rest."
LADbible previously contacted Troy Police for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123
Topics: US News
Britt Jones