Grocery Store Employee Found in Freezer After Going Missing 10 Years Prior

The remains of an Iowa man were found in a grocery store cooler close to a decade after he was first reported missing, CNN reports. 

In January, workers were removing shelves in coolers from the former No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa. During the job, they discovered the remains of a dead man. Per Council Bluffs Police Capt. Todd Weddum, investigators used his parents DNA to prove that these remains belonged to Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada.

Murillo-Moncada was an employee at No Frills Supermarket when his family first reported him missing in November of 2008. At the time, Murillo-Moncada's parents explained to authorities that their son was acting irrationally due to medicine he was prescribed. This led to Murillo-Moncada running away from home after a fight. During their search, the police contacted other departments, local detention centers, and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency as he had previously been deported to Honduras before returning to the US. Yet, they were unable to locate Murillo-Moncada at the time.

Authorities now think Murillo-Moncada continued to have a bad reaction to the medicine in the moments following the fight. He reportedly went to his place of employment and climbed on top of the coolers because employees would hide there when they wanted to take unscheduled breaks. While on the coolers, Murillo-Moncada somehow slipped between the 18-inch gap that separates the coolers from the wall. There, he became trapped and the sounds of the coolers muffled any potential cries for help. This theory was supported by an autopsy that ruled Murillo-Moncada's death as an accident after finding no signs of trauma.