Grocery store workers in Iowa faced a startling discovery in January 2019 when they found the body of a former employee who had been missing since 2009. The body was hidden behind a stack of shelves in what used to be the No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs, where the missing man, Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, had worked.
On November 28, 2009, Murillo-Moncada’s parents reported their 25-year-old son missing after he stormed out of their house in a distressed state. His behavior at the time was described as irrational, possibly influenced by medication he was taking, according to former Council Bluffs Police Capt. Todd Weddum.
In their frantic search, authorities contacted family, various law enforcement agencies, detention centers, and even the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, but to no avail. Murillo-Moncada remained missing, leaving his parents without answers for nearly a decade.
During a renovation project at the shuttered supermarket, workers removing shelves and coolers stumbled upon Murillo-Moncada’s remains. It was revealed that employees used to sneak atop the store’s coolers for unsanctioned breaks.
Investigators speculated that after his departure from home, Murillo-Moncada went to the supermarket and climbed into the space above the coolers. Unfortunately, he fell into an 18-inch gap between the back of the cooler and a wall, becoming trapped. The noise from the compressors likely drowned out any calls for help he might have made.
The No Frills Supermarket, where this tragic incident remained hidden, had been closed since 2016.
Following the gruesome find, DNA from Murillo-Moncada’s parents confirmed his identity. He was still dressed in the same clothes he wore the day he went missing.
Sgt. Brandon Danielson from the Council Bluffs Police Department shared that Murillo-Moncada’s mother always suspected he never left the supermarket. “I don’t know how she came up with that idea, but [his parents] were pretty upset,” he said.
According to KETV, Danielson remarked on the rarity of such cases: “You don’t hear about these types of cases, people found in walls. Especially in this area. So that would be the odd part about it. We have missing person cases all the time, but this is just unique.”
An autopsy indicated no signs of trauma on Murillo-Moncada, leading authorities to conclude that his death was accidental.