What began as an ordinary workday turned into a scene from a horror movie.
A man who lives in Japan’s Kyoto prefecture hired professionals to give his four-bedroom “garbage house” a much-needed deep cleaning. In Japan, “garbage house” refers to extremely dirty homes that need far more than tidying up. They often smell terrible and are infested with pests.
The man used to live in the house with his older sister and their parents. Things changed after his mother suddenly disappeared a decade ago. In the years that followed, the man’s father died, and his sister moved out for work. The man continued to live in the large, dirty house as the sole homeowner until he decided to relocate for a new job. Instead of selling the house as-is, he hired a team of eight cleaners to give the house an extreme makeover in just seven hours.
The first three hours passed uneventfully, but a grisly discovery changed everything. Beneath old blankets and bedding, the cleaners found a human skeleton. Although initially (and understandably) shocked, they kept their cool and took the necessary next steps.
Initially, the workers were shocked upon discovering the bones, but they managed to adapt more quickly than normal people.
This is because we receive at least 10 orders a month to clean up after ‘lonely deaths.’
— Kouki Nishioka, owner of the cleaning company
After the cleaners informed the homeowner, he called the police, and the police confirmed that the skeleton belonged to his mother. How did her death go unnoticed for so long?
The house’s other odors were so strong that no one noticed the stench of the woman’s decomposing body. Moreover, none of her family members knew she had returned to the house after leaving it. According to the homeowner, it wasn’t unusual for his mother to suddenly leave for days or keep to herself while she was at home.
It’s possible that my mother came back after a few days away and no one in the family noticed.
— Homeowner
As for the cleaning crew, they were paid 500,000 yen (approximately $ 3,465 USD) for their work.
Source: SCMP