Elderly Woman Found Dead In High-Rise Trash Chute

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Apr 2, 2013 4:00PM

The body of an 80-year-old woman was found at the bottom of a trash chute in a high-rise building, just over a year after a teen with Down syndrome died from falling down the same chute.

On Monday morning, a building engineer found the body of Florence Banta, who lived on the 17th floor of the Gold Coast high-rise building.

Banta had been missing since Saturday, March 30, when a police alert described her as "a fragile woman who may be suffering with anxiety and may be upset," who "has no money or identification on her."

Charlie Manley, 17, died from falling down the same trash chute in February 2012. Manley lived with his family on the 46th floor, where the trash chutes in the building were about four feet from the ground, and 1 1/2-foot square. Manley's death was ruled an accident.