ISDP May 2013: The Barrister’s Chimney &c.

The thirteenth of the month creaks into position once again as this long, chilly spring climbs slowly into the temperature range favorable to ISDP incidents. Things have been so sparse we even skipped the April edition. Despite the weather, we bring you a few new examples of those lugubrious events where isolation, malfeasance, insanity, or the worst kind of bad luck inevitably lead to the grimmest foul odor of all.

After maintenance workers “reported a foul odor,” police made a gruesome discovery inside a Union, New Jersey, apartment on March 26.

Authorities said Friday they’re still not sure what caused the death of a woman found in an apartment with her emaciated 4-year-old son, who had been alone with her body for days, living off a bag of sugar.

The good news is that “adoption offers have poured in from around the world.” The apartment belongs to the boy’s grandmother, whose move to a nursing home following hip replacement surgery led to her daughter and grandson moving in. Authorities are looking for other relatives for the boy to live with.

The headline from Ottawa, Kansas: “Three bodies found on farm: foul smell led to horrific find.” The bodies were discovered by three local residents who went there to check on a friend they had not heard from in days. Two of them—Kortni McGill and Corey Schlotzhauer—had visited the farm the day before:

When they got there they smelled a foul odor coming from the south side of the home and called police. 

McGill said sheriff’s deputies went into the home and came out 10 to 15 minutes later, saying they didn't find anything and the smell was probably trash. She said the deputies then peered inside a large garage on the opposite side of the house, where there also was a strong, foul smell, but dismissed it as garbage and left. 

McGill and Schlotzhauer returned to the home Monday with Osladil to feed the resident’s dog and investigate the strong smell again.

Always trust your nose!

The victims have been identified and an arrest made.

We don’t usually cover ISDP incidents abroad, but material has been rather thin lately so here goes. We note that a law firm in Derby, England, plagued by a bad smell and swarms of flies, eventually located within its building’s chimney the decomposing remains of a 42-year old local man with convictions for burglary and breaking and entering. A surprising number of people end up this way.

We leave you on a musical note, with “Under a Blackened Sky,” the new release by Knoxville “groove metal” act Scent of Remains.