ILLINOIS – Fifty-year-old Jennifer Maedge reported her husband Richard Maedge missing after he texted her in April 2022 saying he wasn’t feeling well and was leaving work early. When Jennifer returned home to their two-story home in Troy, Illinois, she found Richard’s car in the driveway, but no sign of the man himself.
Police eventually searched the house, but also concluded that he was not on the property. It turned out that this was not the case and his lifeless body was actually lying in a hidden closet under the stairs. In an interview for the magazine People in 2023, Jennifer said that it wasn’t until she was looking for Christmas decorations eight months after Richard disappeared that she accidentally found his remains. She explained that she was going through things in a cupboard under the stairs when she shone her flashlight on what police later identified as her husband’s mummified remains. Richard, who was 53 years old at the time of his death, committed suicide. Naturally, however, the police began to ask questions about how his corpse could have remained in the house for so long without anyone noticing. At the same time, the authorities conducted three separate inspections of the property accompanied by dogs.
During their first visit to the home, the day after Richard disappeared, officers noticed a sewer-like odor inside but were unable to locate its source, she later told television KTVI Chief Deputy Coroner Kelly Rogers. She added that on their second visit, the smell still lingered. Rogers added that the important fact seemed to be that the couple’s house was cluttered with things. Jennifer disputed that description, noting that her husband simply didn’t want to throw anything away, which is why they had so much stuff in the house. She also explained how in the eight months following Richard’s disappearance, she searched his notebooks and diaries for any clues as to where he had gone.
During this time, the unpleasant smell persisted, so she called a plumber. He also stated that there was a smell of ammonia in the place, but, like the police before, he could not identify where it was coming from. “The smell wasn’t all over the house, it was very, very confusing because we don’t have a basement,” Jennifer said. “Also, I have four dogs and a cat that roam around, so they bring in a lot of different smells,” she added. She also noted that the closet in which Richard’s body was found was originally accessed through a hallway door. After the couple remodeled the house, however, it was only accessible through a door hidden inside a larger outdoor closet. “It was a hidden room, so it more than likely absorbed most of the smell,” she stated.
However, a deputy coroner told KTVI after the autopsy that because the remains were in a mummified state when they were found, they may not have given off a strong, lingering odor. This, he says, may explain why no one has been able to find the source of the smell. The police searched the property, the yard and the main floor. Still, Jennifer noted that she never thought to mention the closet to them during the course of the investigation. “I never thought about it because it didn’t occur to me that he could be right there.” she stated. “I would never have thought that he would commit suicide,” added.
