Hoarder Found Dead In Home After Four Month Search
A Las Vegas woman who went missing in April, Billie Jean James, was found dead in her home this week by her husband, who spotted her feet sticking out from a pile of junk. Welcome to Extreme Hoarders: Death Trap.
Billie Jean was last seen walking away from her home back in April, and a massive search was conducted in Las Vegas and the surrounding desert. Police had come by James' house several times with dogs but never found anything. According to spokesman Bill Cassell: "For our dogs to go through that house and not find something should be indicative of the tremendous environmental challenges they faced." Billie Jean's husband, Bill, says she was a hoarder, and friends say she came home every day with various crap from local thrift stores. Her body was found underneath a pile of junk that stood from floor to ceiling.
The AP describes the the James' property:
In the driveway sits two huge trash bins that require industrial-sized trucks to haul them away. The front patio is filled with knickknacks including old chairs, smaller trash bins and a 10-foot basketball hoop.
Inside, Cassell said James' piles of clutter left just small pathways to walk and strong odors that hindered their search — generated by animals, decomposing garbage, food, clothes and other stuff.
One neighbor, Sari Connolly, told the AP she's pretty skeptical about the whole situation, especially when sniffer dogs couldn't even find her: "I'm trying to figure out how a body couldn't smell so bad — that's what everyone's saying."
[Image via AP]