A 49-year-old woman from Illinois was shocked to find the decomposing body of her husband inside their home eight months after she reported him missing.

Jennifer Maedge had reported Richard Maedge missing on April 27, 2022, but despite officers searching their home, his body was only found eight months later when the wife was searching for Christmas decorations.

According to the New York Post, the county coroner’s report ruled Richard’s death as su*cide.

It was on December 11 when Jennifer found the body of her husband of 19 years while she was searching for Christmas tree decorations.

“I decided to put the Christmas tree up, and I was looking for a tote of Christmas ornaments, and that’s when I discovered him. He had committed su*cide,” she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The husband’s body had already decomposed to the point of mummification after being hidden behind many clothes inside a cupboard under the stairs.

The heartbroken wife, her neighbors, and also police officers previously reported a foul odor coming from the home for several months but thought that it was caused by the sewage.

She said that she last spoke to her husband on April 26. He told her that he was going to work early but when she arrived home, she found his car parked next to their house but he was nowhere to be found.

Jennifer first thought he may have ‘needed to get away for a while.’

Richard’s grieving sister, Marilyn Toliver, had slammed the police after the body was found.

In an interview with St. Louis Post-Dispatch, she said: “I need answers from the police chief. I need answers from the mayor. How is this even possible?

“Mistakes were made, and I want answers. If it means filing a complaint and going all the way to the governor, I will. I’m not going away. I’m just now beginning to say stuff out loud.”

Marilyn continued: “I should have been screaming from the beginning, but I was suckered in by the police department saying they were doing their job and looking for him.”

After Richard went missing, his son Austin Maedge had claimed that his father may have been depressed because of the ‘family drama’ that he was facing at that time.

Marilyn claimed that she and her brother were fighting a legal battle against their other sister to get guardianship of their father, Ed Maedge, who passed away in August.

“We were in a serious family conflict,” she explained. “It was terrible.”

Richard leaves behind his wife and sisters, two sons, a stepdaughter, and three grandchildren.

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