Missing Worker Found Trapped Behind Store Shelves After 10-Year Search
A man was discovered trapped behind store shelves 10 years after disappearing.
Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada was reported missing by his parents on November 28, 2009, after leaving his home in an upset state.
At the time, he was 25 years old and was employed at the No Frills supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
For a long time, Larry’s family had no idea what had happened to him but in 2019, a tragic discovery was made.
Relatives say that at the time of Larry’s disappearance, he had been suffering hallucinations, reports the BBC.
Through a translator, his mother said: “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.”
Larry’s parents told local media that he fled the family home barefoot during a blizzard, leaving behind his keys and car.
According to Council Bluffs Police Captain Todd Weddum, per CNN, the then 25-year-old’s parent said he was possibly acting irrationally due to the medication he was taking.
It wouldn’t be until over ten years later that Larry’s family finally had answers.
The store worker’s remains were found at the local supermarket where he had worked. His body was wedged in an 18-inch gap between the cooler and a wall.
Larry was found by a group of workers tasked with removing shelves and coolers – the store had been shut for three years and the premises were finally being cleared.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation identified the store worker using DNA collected from his parents. The clothing also matched what he was said to have been wearing at the time of his disappearance.
An autopsy showed no signs of trauma to Larry and his death was ruled accidental, reports Des Moines Register.
Although Larry hadn’t been scheduled to work at the time he would have entered the grocery store, management said it wasn’t uncommon for employees to enter the store regardless of whether they were on a shift.
Former employees reportedly said it was common for workers to be in the space on top of the coolers, a place used for storage.
Investigators concluded that Larry went into the supermarket after leaving his home and climbed on the top of the store’s coolers.
It’s believed he fell into the gap between the back of the units and devastatingly, became trapped.
Sergeant Brandon Danielson said it would have been a 12-foot fall and the noise of the freezer units would have been ‘so loud’ there was ‘probably no way anyone heard him.’
After learning of his son’s fate, Larry’s father, Victor Murillo, spoke of his ‘pain’ and ‘distress.’
He told KETV: “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?”
Former staff and shoppers reportedly complained they could smell something terrible coming from the freezer area, however, it was always dismissed.
Shop workers with roles similar to Larry’s have shared their theories about why the stench seemingly went unnoticed, in a Reddit thread discussing the mystery.
One social media user suggested it might be surprisingly easy to overlook strong odors in environments like supermarkets.
They wrote: “As a grocery vendor, I can definitely say stores and grocery backrooms are full of various horrible stinks at all times. Sometimes it’s old dairy, sometimes it’s trash, and if there was a dead body in one of my stores, I probably wouldn’t think twice about the smell.
“I can totally see how this happened, as sad and hard to imagine as it is!”
Another Redditor echoed the sentiment, noting that many people “underestimate how disgusting most stores really are” due to the lingering strong smells.
They added: “I was the warehouse receiver for many years and I developed an immunity to even the worst odours.
“Rats would constantly be crawling into boxes and crates and dying, and I would be the last to know unless I came across the corpse, despite the warehouse being my ‘department.’ So sadly, this story does not at all surprise me.
“There were corners of my store, especially the damages area, that literally no one else would approach with a 10-metre pole.”
However, not everyone was convinced. Two mortuary workers expressed skepticism, arguing that the scent of a dead body is “the worst smell on earth,” making it hard to believe Larry went unnoticed.
“The pungent nature of it alone is the most distinguishable thing in the world,” one explained. “I doubt any store or restaurant would be able to ignore it.”
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