In 2009, 25-year-old Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada ran barefoot from his home in Council Bluffs, **Iowa, during a blizzard, telling his mother someone was following him. After that night, he vanished without a trace, and despite searches and missing-person reports, no clues were found.
Nearly ten years later, in 2019, workers clearing out a closed No Frills Supermarket discovered badly decomposed human remains wedged behind a large refrigerator unit. DNA testing confirmed they belonged to Murillo-Moncada, who had previously worked at the store.
Investigators believe he returned to the supermarket the night he disappeared, climbed on top of the coolers, and accidentally fell about 12 feet into a narrow gap between the refrigerators and the wall. Trapped in the tight space, he likely couldn’t escape, and the loud refrigeration units would have drowned out any cries for help.
Authorities ruled the death a tragic accident, finally solving a mystery that had haunted his family for nearly a decade.