Hoarding Couple Found Trapped In Home

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 25, 2010 6:00PM

An elderly South Side couple has been hospitalized after they were discovered trapped by piles of their own possessions and debris in their home (in the 1500 block of East 69th Street), a case of hoarding gone awful. A 75-year-old woman and her 76-year-old husband were hospitalized last night at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center in critical condition though, according to the Tribune, their conditions have improved since. Authorities discovered the couple after a neighbor, reporting a foul odor, asked for a well-being check. The couple was found buried under mounds of debris and might have been trapped there for as many as two-to-three weeks. Conditions were such that authorities investigating the home had to wear haz-mat suits to enter and the woman suffered what appeared to be rat bites. The Sun-Times describes the home as having junk/debris/possessions "stacked from the floor to the ceiling in the basement and first and second floors," reminiscent of New York's legendary Collyer Brothers. Grand Crossing District police Lt. Dale Kingsley said the building will likely be condemned.