Man who bought unused storage unit discovered entire murdered family inside

A man who bought a storage unit in the USA once discovered that instead of some stuff that he could flog, he found the bodies of a murdered family.

George Gennai bought the unit near Seattle in 1992 hoping to find something interesting and potentially valuable.

Sure, that’s always a possibility, but it’s probably more likely that you’ll just end up with a load of old tat that someone didn’t want in their house.

You would probably expect that you would not find several corpses, though.

Or anything related to a murder - as this bloke did.

Gennai was fascinated as to why the storage unit had been untouched for 12 years, whilst still being paid for.

In the end, he clipped open the lock and raised the doors and started digging for treasure.

Jamie Pham/Alamy Stock Photo

Once inside, he started to get rid of some heavy plastic that was covering everything, before starting to get through a three-feet thick layer of old clothes.

It was at that point he started to notice a foul smell.

Disgusted, he kept on going, eventually discovering a bin bag that contained a human skull.

Obviously, he immediately alerted the police.

Eventually, the medical team were able to identify the bodies of 36-year-old Barbara Bender and her two sons, who had been missing for 12 years.

Bender, along with 15-year-old Mark and eight-year-old Brian, had been killed by blows to the head.

Police also found a hatchet with blood and hair on it inside the locker.

Barbara had filed for divorce from her husband the day before she disappeared and was last seen loading up a van.

The police investigation immediately turned to her husband Mark.

He was the person who had rented the locker, though it only came to light after his second wife stopped paying for it.

Mark was arrested and eventually confessed to the murders, receiving three life sentences for the three counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to at least 80 years.

Speaking about the gory scene that he discovered, Gennai said: 'I was in Vietnam, I've seen this before.'

Jeff East/Alamy Stock Photo

The news of Barbara’s discovery – whilst tragic – did offer some comfort to her mother, who had spent 12 years not knowing what happened to her or whether she was alive or dead.

She had thought that maybe her daughter had entered a witness protection programme and was unable to contact them, until her body was discovered.

Bette Jones said: "I've been waiting for word from her so long.

"But at least this is better than not knowing what happened to her."

Barbara’s cousin Mangen added: "Now at least they can be buried and rest in peace.”