Woman suffocates under piles of clutter in home

Local6.com ^ | Jan 7, 2006 | Local 6.com

[plain talk]

A woman in Shelton, Wash., who was reported missing by her husband, was found dead under piles of clutter in their home, where she suffocated to death, according to police. Shelton Police Chief Terry Davenport said the home was so cluttered that police officers' heads touched the ceiling as they climbed over the clutter.

Authorities found the body of 62-year-old Marie Rose buried under clothes after 10 hours of searching. She reportedly suffered from a condition known as hoarding. Rose's husband believes she fell while looking for the phone in the house this week and suffocated. There were so many piles of items that the man did not realize she was dead in the home.

[joylyn]

I have a neighbor with this condition. There have been several interventions -- on one occasion two large dumpsters worth of trash were removed. In a few months, the situation was almost as bad as before. Parting with her trash causes an anxiety attack, it seems.

[exdem2000]

Its great to see so many Freeper Flybabies.

[Mamzelle]

OK--I looked at the web site--tell me about your experiences with the flylady...I've heard of this shiny sink thing before.

[Muzzle_em]

I think it was a freeper who said he had an old "whatever" sitting by the curb with a sign on it saying "FREE." Nobody would pick it up. He changed the sign to read "For Sale, $15" and someone stole it during the night.

[retrokitten]

My MIL isn't even elderly! She's 64 and in good health. She has a spare bedroom that is just full of junk. There is hardly a path to walk into the room.

I am far from a neat freak, in fact I can live in hearty denial about the state of some clutter (like too many books or messy closets/drawers, etc.), but once I snap out of the denial I can't relax until I do something about the clutter. I guess MIL/SIL/BIL have an even heartier sense of denial then I do, because it would drive me crazy looking at that junk every day.

[I'm ALL Right!]

FlyLady drove me crazy. A gazillion e-mails each day. One would have helped me. 5 is just e-clutter, and another thing I have to sort and throw away.

[VOA]

Here's a link to a good article that ran in Parade Magazine (the Sunday
newspaper supplement):
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_09-04-2005/featured_1

I know a retired professor that struggles with this problem. It's a
real challenge that requires real treament.
Unless they are somebody like Howard Hughes with a zillion dollars,
and a highly competent support network!

[trisham]

He changed the sign to read "For Sale, $15" and someone stole it during the night.

**************

LOL! Funny. Sad and funny.

[Paved Paradise]

Thanks for the support. It's not easy, ya know?

[Paved Paradise]

Excellent points! I think I could forgive the basement but what's hard about the garage is that I have to enter it daily. My car barely fits in there and it's a three car garage! I know when I look at the big picture, it's a small cross to bear. He's a great husband though he works too many hours. Your hub sounds like mine as far as the cr@p goes. I think what complicates it is I don't even KNOW what half of the stuff is or does.

[cgk]

Strange story, isn't it?

[trisham]

I know when I look at the big picture, it's a small cross to bear. He's a great husband though he works too many hours.

**************

That's what I keep telling myself. :)

Unfortunately, whenever I throw anything away, he immediately knows. Don't ask me how, it's eerie.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

BTW: We were referring to our kids rooms. Not the house! geesh!

[numberonepal]

She was in desparate need of help from these guys:

[latina4dubya]

BTW: We were referring to our kids rooms. Not the house! geesh!

yes--i understand... and my response is: not all of us! i didn't mean to be offensive... sorry about that...

[shhrubbery!]

We had a case similar to this near our home.

Former student radical Billy Marcinko was burned to death when neighbors and firemen could not manage to break into his burning house -- due to piles and piles of boxes of videotapes blocking entrances:

Fire victim was 'like a cult figure'
(ex-Rutgers "revolutionary" dies amidst piles of videotapes)

[Paved Paradise]

LOL! Mine is the same way. I have to bury stuff under other stuff. However, when we are doing big jobs (e.g. garage), he'll actually go through the huge garbage can and give me the "what-for" on items I'm pitching.

[ken in texas]

My wife's husband does too. :-)

You know... we really might need that stuff sometime.

[angkor]

They lost their home and the new owner filled two commercial dumpsters,

Sounds like my experience.

I bought a house from an editor of a prominent daily newspaper, but there was one strange event in our first survey of the grounds: the realtor virtually body blocked me from going around to the back of the outdoor tool/garden shed.

I thought it was odd at the time, but didn't realize until after closing why: they guy had piles and piles of little lumber pieces, tin cans, gardening junk, half-full mulch and fertilizer bags, etc, all hidden in decaying heaps behind the shed. I'm talking 3 to 5 foot high piles.

I filled up an entire mid-sized dumpster with the refuse this guy left in the yard.

It was a the "Harry Homeowner" version of hoarding.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

My dh comes from a line of packrats. I have been working on him bit by bit over the years, and he is getting better, I must say. Over the holidays, he has been going through the garage, and I have actually witnessed him throwing things away!

Funny story: The last time my father helped us move, he looked at me while we were unloading into the new place, with the straightest of faces and said, "You know, I'll bet that husband of yours probably has his first booger saved in here somewhere." Lol!