THE dad of a missing son whose body lay undiscovered behind a supermarket freezer for 10 years has now revealed his horror at learning of his death. Workers discovered the body of missing Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, 25, while removing shelves and freezers at a former No Frills Supermarket in Iowa, US. His parents had reported […]
THE dad of a missing son whose body lay undiscovered behind a supermarket freezer for 10 years has now revealed his horror at learning of his death.
Workers discovered the body of missing Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, 25, while removing shelves and freezers at a former No Frills Supermarket in Iowa, US.
His parents had reported their son missing after he disappeared on November 28, 2009 when he had become upset and dashed from the family home.
Larry’s dad Victor Murillo is now demanding answers on how his son’s body went undetected for a decade.
The store closed in 2016 but his body was still undiscovered for the next three years.
It had been in an 18-inch gap between a cooler and a wall inside the shop.
His dad told KETV: “We went out to find him – my wife and I. Another friend came to help me.
“We got up early, and couldn’t find anything. ‘It felt like the earth had swallowed him whole.’
“Our heads are spinning, finding this out after so many years, and it is distressing, it makes us feel a lot of pain.
“They closed the building. The freezers weren’t working anymore. So how can a body just be there?”
Staff at the supermarket said workers climbed on top of the cooler to take breaks but did not notice his body.
Our heads are spinning, finding this out after so many years, and it is distressing, it makes us feel a lot of pain.
His heartbroken dad
Disturbing claims suggest any noise from the units would have drowned out any cries for help.
Sgt Brandon Danielson, of Council Bluffs Police, told Des Moines Register that at the time of his disappearance there was a “snowstorm” and he had run from home “with no shoes, no socks, no keys [and] no car”.
Investigators believe that he entered the shop after fleeing home, climbed on top of the freezers and accidentally fell into the narrow gap, where he became trapped.
Danielson explained it was about a 12-ft drop.
Shoppers claimed they it “smelled” and made them feel “sick” when they went to the coolers in the store.
Council Bluffs Police Capt Todd Weddum said that his parents’ DNA was used to help confirm his identity after the body was recovered from the narrow gap in January.
A post-mortem showed Murillo-Moncada hadn’t suffered any trauma. As his death has been ruled as accidental, cops have closed the case.
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