A woman has recalled her "total shock" of finding her missing husband's mummified corpse in a closet.
Jennifer' Madege's husband Richard, 53, from Illinois, US, had been missing for eight months after he vanished on April 27.
He had phoned his wife to say he was finishing work early and was heading home but when Jennifer came back to the property the dad-of-three was nowhere to be seen.
Richard's car was on the driveway and his wallet, keys and cards were in the house, which left her baffled.
Cops were called to the "hoarder home" which had a "sewer-like" smell after he was reported missing - but authorities could not find the 53-year-old.
However, it wasn't until eight months later that Richard was found after Jennifer went to get some Christmas decorations from their closet on December 11.
She told People: "I know it may sound odd. I was just trying to figure out the best way to celebrate the holidays without knowing the whereabouts of my husband.
"I had been contemplating that for weeks before I decided to put up some Christmas decorations, to put me more in the Christmas spirit and to honour my husband, in a way.
"The holidays last year were hard to celebrate while Rich's disappearance was unsolved."
The closet used to be accessible via a hallway door, according to Jennifer.
However, after the couple changed the layout of their home, it could only be accessed by a door in a larger outer closet.
Jennifer had used a flashlight to look inside the closet and discovered human remains - which turned out to be her husband.
She admitted finding his mummified corpse was a "total shock".
Richard had died by suicide and there were no signs of foul play, according to Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn.
Jennifer, who had been married to Richard for 20 years, said he struggled with his mental health but was receiving help.
She revealed: "He had mental health issues in the past and he would get help for it.
"And he told me that he knew the breaking point, and he would get help. So, this would be the most farfetched of anything, that he would actually go through with this.
"He never verbalised anything [like] he would take his life to me."
Chief Deputy Coroner Kelly Rogers revealed police had arrived to the home on multiple occasions and found a "sewer-like odour" indoors.
However, the smell could not be located.
The property was described as a "hoarder home," by officers, which Jennifer disagrees with me.
She said: "'Hoarder' is a strong word, but he was more — I would consider, more of a pack rat."
Richard, who ran a handyman business, "didn't want to get rid of anything", according to Jennifer.
While Richard was missing, Jennifer would look at his journals and notebooks for any clues which might explain his disappearance.
But during the time she was looking for clues, she admitted the smell in the house persisted.
It led to her calling a plumber who came round and detected an "ammonia" smell but he couldn't find where it was coming from.
He placed a cap on the basement pipe which appeared to help.
Jennifer said: "The smell did not take up the whole entire house, it was very, very confusing and everything, because there's not a basement or anything, it's more of a crawl space and a cellar.
"Plus, I have four dogs and a cat roaming around, so you get many different smells.
"And then also, my sinuses were bothering me at the time, too. So, you're trying to figure things out and you're getting confused at where it's [coming from).
She believes the design of the room would have masked the majority of the smell for eight months.
Jennifer added: "The way that they put it in the coroner's report is that it was a concealed room, so more than likely that took up a majority of the smell in there."
She never went into the closet as there were piles of clothes and junk which they had to climb around.
Jennifer said: "Just to go in there, I had to remove a portion of my clothes out of the closet without climbing around all the stuff that was in there.
"And then, I had a flashlight, so basically opening the door and seeing him there was just total shock."
The grandad-of-three with three adult children from a previous marriage was described as a "very caring person" by his wife.
She added: "He was a very caring person, very thoughtful.
"I know he wouldn't want me to dwell in his loss or his passing or anything. So I just have to try to figure out how to move on."
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