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Shocking pictures show fridge where supermarket worker's body was found after being stuck there for 10 years
More than seven years after the remains of a missing supermarket worker were discovered behind a fridge, a decade after he went missing, images of where he met his tragic fate have surfaced.
In 2019, workers tasked with clearing out a closed No Frills supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa, uncovered human remains wedged behind one of the store's refrigerators.
Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada's body remained undiscovered for a decade
According to BBC News, DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to 25-year-old Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, 25, who had been missing since 2009.
The discovery revealed that Murillo-Moncada's body had been hidden in the store for seven years while it remained open, and another three years after its closure in 2016.
Thankfully, investigators found no evidence of foul play. Instead, they are convinced that Murillo-Moncada, who had worked at the supermarket, fell into the 18-inch gap between the refrigerator and the wall, becoming fatally trapped.
At the time, it was reported that the body was so badly decomposed that it took a post-mortem to identify him formally.
While the case has baffled online sleuths for years, with many questioning how a body could go unnoticed for so long in a functioning supermarket, harrowing images of the scene illustrate how difficult it would have been to discover him.
The store’s layout and the position of the refrigerator likely made it nearly impossible to detect the Honduran native's presence behind the unit.
Murillo-Moncada's mom had suspicions he was trapped inside the store
Former employees of No Frills, which closed several years ago, noted it was common for workers to climb atop the freezers to restock shelves.
Sgt Danielson, a cop who worked on the original missing persons case back in 2009, told Omaha news outlet KETV: "You don't hear about these types of cases, [like] people found in walls, especially in this area.
"We have missing persons all the time, but this is just unique."
Murillo-Moncada was reported missing the day after Thanksgiving in 2009. His family reported that he left their home barefoot and disoriented during a blizzard, leaving behind his keys and car.
At the time, his mother recounted: "He was hearing voices that said 'eat sugar.'
"He felt his heart was beating too hard and thought if he ate sugar, his heart would not beat so hard."
Danielson also revealed, years after he was initially reported missing, that Murillo-Moncada’s mother had long suspected he might have been trapped in the store.
He said: "The mother, she kind of had an idea that he had never left the No Frills."