onedef92
03-31-2011, 9:08am
Hoarder found dead in Moultrie home
Posted: Mar 31, 2011 1:27 AM EDT
Updated: Mar 31, 2011 1:27 AM EDT
MOULTRIE, GA – Emergency workers in Moultrie made a shocking discovery Wednesday afternoon. They found a man who had been dead for weeks in his home.
The biggest challenge was actually getting inside.
Everyone in the 1200 block of 12th Street Northwest knew Charlie B. Wilson. Described as a friendly man, neighbors say he often stopped and said hello while riding his bicycle.
"He was a really nice guy. I've known him since I was a child," said Kimiko Shealey.
"I'm very said he's gone. He was a good person," said Wylene Bentley.
Bentley lives directly across the street from Wilson and has for years. But she, and others, who lived just doors away from him never knew what the living situation was like inside his home.
Little did they know, the man could barely move around inside his own home.
"He always like to collect things around the house, but I didn't expect the inside to look like the outside," Shealey said.
"I can't describe it really," said neighbor Wendy Moss.
What they saw coming out Wilson's home was piles and piles and piles of stuff - items from boxes to pipes to papers - just about everything someone could accumulate over several years packed to capacity inside a small home.
Wilson was a hoarder.
"I couldn't believe it," Moss said.
The discovery wasn't made until neighbors, who hadn't seen Wilson in nearly 3 weeks, called police to do a welfare check. But officers couldn't get in the door because it was blocked.
Firefighters had to use crowbars on a window and literally dig their way inside to locate the man who was in his 70's.
"It was like a really big shock for me to have to see them have to cut a wall to get to him," Shealey said.
Officials say the house was stacked with belongings from the floor to the ceiling. Every room was this way.
Rescue crews had to crawl over possibly decades worth of collected items just to get to Wilson whose decomposing body was found inside his room. It took about 2 hours to remove the body.
Investigators say they don't know how long he had been dead, but they do not suspect foul play was involved.
Neighbors say regardless of his living condition, he will instead be remembered as the kind man who would've gladly done anything to help someone in need.
Now police tape surrounds the home which was quickly condemned by the city. It's unclear if the house will have to be demolished.
Posted: Mar 31, 2011 1:27 AM EDT
Updated: Mar 31, 2011 1:27 AM EDT
MOULTRIE, GA – Emergency workers in Moultrie made a shocking discovery Wednesday afternoon. They found a man who had been dead for weeks in his home.
The biggest challenge was actually getting inside.
Everyone in the 1200 block of 12th Street Northwest knew Charlie B. Wilson. Described as a friendly man, neighbors say he often stopped and said hello while riding his bicycle.
"He was a really nice guy. I've known him since I was a child," said Kimiko Shealey.
"I'm very said he's gone. He was a good person," said Wylene Bentley.
Bentley lives directly across the street from Wilson and has for years. But she, and others, who lived just doors away from him never knew what the living situation was like inside his home.
Little did they know, the man could barely move around inside his own home.
"He always like to collect things around the house, but I didn't expect the inside to look like the outside," Shealey said.
"I can't describe it really," said neighbor Wendy Moss.
What they saw coming out Wilson's home was piles and piles and piles of stuff - items from boxes to pipes to papers - just about everything someone could accumulate over several years packed to capacity inside a small home.
Wilson was a hoarder.
"I couldn't believe it," Moss said.
The discovery wasn't made until neighbors, who hadn't seen Wilson in nearly 3 weeks, called police to do a welfare check. But officers couldn't get in the door because it was blocked.
Firefighters had to use crowbars on a window and literally dig their way inside to locate the man who was in his 70's.
"It was like a really big shock for me to have to see them have to cut a wall to get to him," Shealey said.
Officials say the house was stacked with belongings from the floor to the ceiling. Every room was this way.
Rescue crews had to crawl over possibly decades worth of collected items just to get to Wilson whose decomposing body was found inside his room. It took about 2 hours to remove the body.
Investigators say they don't know how long he had been dead, but they do not suspect foul play was involved.
Neighbors say regardless of his living condition, he will instead be remembered as the kind man who would've gladly done anything to help someone in need.
Now police tape surrounds the home which was quickly condemned by the city. It's unclear if the house will have to be demolished.