There are few tales as strangely grim as that of Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, the man who was found trapped behind a set of store shelves nearly 10 years after he went missing.
As reported back then, Larry was reported missing on November 28, 2009, when his parents became worried after he left home in a distressed state, barefoot during a snowstorm, without his keys or car, and did not come back.
At the time, Larry was 25 years old and worked at the No Frills supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Although a search was quickly initiated, no sign of the missing man was ever discovered. His family had little to comfort them after his disappearance. It truly felt as if he had vanished into thin air one day.
According to the BBC, Larry’s relatives disclosed that he was experiencing hallucinations at the time he went missing.
“He was hearing voices that told him to ‘eat sugar’,” his mother shared, through a translator.
He sensed that his heart was pounding too fiercely and wondered if consuming sugar would ease the intensity of his heartbeat.
As per Council Bluffs Police Captain Todd Weddum, Larry’s parents suspected that his unusual behavior might be linked to the medication he was on.
Then, a decade later, in 2019, a heartbreaking revelation altered everything.
The remains of the store employee were located at the local supermarket in Council Bluffs where he had been employed. His body was found trapped in an 18-inch space between the cooler and a wall.
According to reports, a group of workers tasked with removing shelves and coolers discovered Larry’s body. The store had been closed for three years at that time, and the area was being cleared.
Using DNA samples from his parents, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation successfully identified Larry. The clothes found on him also corresponded to what he was reported to have worn when he went missing.
As reported by the Des Moines Register, Larry’s death was determined to be accidental.
Investigators looking into the incident concluded that Larry had entered the supermarket after leaving his family home and subsequently climbed onto the coolers. Unfortunately, he must have fallen into the space between the units and the wall, tragically becoming trapped.
Sergeant Brandon Danielson mentioned that it would have been a 12-foot drop, and the noise from the freezer units was so loud that there was likely no way anyone could have heard him.
“Our heads are spinning, finding this out after so many years, and it is distressing; it makes us feel a lot of pain,” said Larry’s father, Victor Murillo, following the discovery of his son in 2019.
“They closed the building. The freezers weren’t operational anymore. So how could a body just be there?”
Hauntingly, former employees reported a terrible odor emanating from the freezer units, but their complaints were consistently ignored.
Rest in peace, Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada.
