Photo: Troy Police Department
Authorities in Illinois released the autopsy report of a man who was found dead in his own home eight months after he was reported missing.
Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn said that 53-year-old Richard Maedge took his own life and had been inside a storage space in his home the entire time.
Maedge's wife of 19 years, Jennifer, reported that her husband was missing on April 27, 2022. She told the police that his car was still in the driveway, and his keys and wallet were still in the house.
Officers searched the Maedges' home but found no evidence of Richard, but they did notice a "sewer-like" odor in the house. Officers also canvased the neighborhood multiple times and searched several nearby properties for any signs of Richard.
As the odor grew stronger, Jennifer called the police again. They returned and searched the house again and found nothing. Jennifer then called a plumber who suggested the odor was coming from sewer pipes, so he capped the ones leading into her basement, eliminating the smell.
In December, when Jennifer was unpacking Christmas decorations, she found her husband's mummified body in a concealed storage behind a closet in her bedroom.
His body was suspended by a belt wrapped around his neck, which was screwed into a wood stud in the wall.
Kelly Rogers, the county's chief deputy coroner, told KTVI that once the body was mummified and all the fluids had dried up, it was unlikely to have a strong odor. That would explain why Jennifer was able to live in the house for so long without finding the body.