ISDP: In the Heat of the Summer

It’s peak summer—the zucchini are plump and the corn is ripening. So too are the remains of certain unfortunate souls who expired this past month; only the grim olfactory residuum of decomposition allowed them to be found. Here in the ISDP nerve center at FirstNerve Manor we have been collecting reports from all across the nation—we were so busy we missed our traditional 13th of the month deadline last night, something that happens only once in a blue moon. So without further ado, here is our latest compendium of the most grotesque smell in the world.

An Ordinary Evening in New Haven

Two severed legs were found near the State Street train station in New Haven, Connecticut. Then things got weird:

After the discovery of the severed legs, someone noticed a foul smell and upon searching two severed arms without hands in a garbage bag were found under the bridge.

“It’s a little creepy,” local resident Marge Vallee told WTNH-TV.

We’re inclined to agree.

Olfactory Irony Alert

In DeBary, Florida, a man notices a foul odor coming from a residence on Jasmine Drive, and alerts the town rescue unit which discovers the bodies of an elderly couple who had been having trouble with their air conditioner. But you know the rules, people! Since the man had been checking the house at the request of the couple’s daughter, this fails the basic requirement of ISDP: discovery of the decedents via the smell of decomposition.

The helpful neighbor did provide these words of wisdom to News13:

“I don't know if you've ever smelled death before, but once you smell it, you never forget,” Bartlett said.

Other People’s Money

Speaking of rules, this incident from Pahrump, Nevada, also fails to qualify as bona fide ISDP: the family of an elderly woman asked the Nye County Sheriff’s Department to look in on her, as they hadn’t heard from her for some days and they noticed unusual activity in her bank account. Longtime ISDP readers will not be shocked to learn that deputies noticed “an extremely foul odor” at the house, and entered it only to find the lady’s decomposed remains. The stepson of the deceased, one Robert Marygold, “arrived home” while officers where still on the scene and admitted to shooting his stepmother dead a few days earlier, then using her debit card at a casino. It is unclear from reports whether Mr. Marygold was, in fact, living with his stepmother at the time of the murder. If so, he may be eligible for a Norman Bates Award™ nomination.

Maryland, My Maryland

Based on the lede, you’d think you know where this story is headed:

On July 21, 2015, Deputy Lawrence responded to the 21000 block of Great Mills Lane in Lexington Park, after witnesses reported a foul odor coming from the vacant residence.

But SURPRISE! Deputies found a man and a woman (of “no fixed address”) asleep in the basement. The couple was charged with burglary. The source of the telltale foul odor remains unexplained.

Dude!

In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a guy stabs his girlfriend to death and stashes her body in a closet in the apartment. After a few weeks the stench triggers odor complaints. The guy blames it on a toilet problem and is told he’ll have to vacate while the place is fumigated. He attempts to dispose of the remains that night but bungles the job and is arrested. Congratulations to Hasan Gooden-Reid on his nomination for the 2015 Norman Bates Award™.

Car 54 Where Are You?

Couple of deputies make a routine traffic stop in Polk County, Florida. They pull the violator into a Walgreen’s parking lot, and while there notice a foul odor leaking from another car in the lot. In the driver’s seat they discover the body of a 52-year-old suicide victim.

In Butler, Pennsylvania, a pizza shop employee noticed a foul odor behind the business and discovered the body of a 29-year-old local man lying in the grass.

In Norcross, Georgia, a landscaper mowing the lawn at a rental property noticed a foul odor coming from the house. He flagged down a police officer who entered the house and found two bodies: an apparent brother-sister murder-suicide.

In Pueblo, Colorado, someone strolling near the Pueblo Mall “smelled a foul odor” and discovered a dead body near Fountain Creek. Authorities believe it is that of a homeless man and they do not suspect foul play.

Technically speaking, this incident in Pacific Palisades involves neither smell or the discovery of a dead body. But since it bears a superficial similarity to many previous cases of DBs found in cars, it caught our interest. Plus there are some headlines that were impossible to ignore:

Mystery Man Found Decomposing In Car Had More Than 1,200 Guns, Cash, Underwater Car

Dead LA gun stash owner described as alien hybrid, govt. spy

And then there are the names, right out of a Carl Hiaasen novel: the deceased was Jeffrey Alan Lash. His longtime fiancée was Catherine Nebron, and her employee Dawn VadBunker. Nebron and VadBunker believed Lash to be a CIA and/or FBI spy and possible human-alien hybrid. When he collapsed and died they left his body in his car—he had told them people from the government would retrieve his remains—and went on a ten-day-long trip. They say they were surprised to find his body there upon their return. So they had an attorney contact police. Bottom line: no smell, no discovery of remains, and, perhaps even more disappointingly, no Norman Bates Award™ nomination. But Mr. Lash was clearly a glorious, major league weirdo. RIP.

Turning to other vehicular events, we find this item from Escondido, California. Police were called to an apartment complex to check on reports of a foul odor. Inside a van they found the body of a 46-year-old man. His death does not appear to be suspicious.

The Nostrils of Texas are Upon You

In Houston, Texas, male remains were discovered at 53 East Parker Road. The circumstances were classic:

“A neighbor to the east of the residence smelled a foul odor coming from the above address and went to investigate. Upon walking up the driveway, the neighbor found the victim in a heavy stage of decomposition.”

Up in San Antonio, police found a decomposed body in a grassy area on the West Side of town. It had evidently been gnawed on by animals. According to KSAT ABC-12, “neighbors in the area reported smelling a foul odor for weeks.” Apparently they couldn’t be bothered to call police or take a look themselves.

Dead People Make People

The headline from People.com: “Florida Woman Killed Her Father and Her Daughter So She Could Be with Her Boyfriend: Cops.”

The investigation started when 25-year-old Cheyanne Jessie called police on Saturday morning to report that her father and 6-year-old daughter had vanished. When police arrived at Jessie’s home, they say, they smelled a foul odor. Jessie allegedly attributed the smell to a dead raccoon.

[Dead raccoon? Not bad!—Ed.]

According to People, police think Ms. Jessie left the bodies in the house for days until the smell forced her to move them to a storage shed 200 feet away. That period of co-residency means Cheyanne Jessie is nominated for the 2015 Norman Bates Award™. Congratulations!