When Jennifer Maedge looked for Christmas decorations in her home, she found the answer to an eight-month mystery – the body of her missing husband hidden beneath the stairs.
Richard Maedge, 53, a father of three adult children and grandfather to three, disappeared on April 26, 2022. Earlier that afternoon he called Jennifer, his wife of nearly two decades, to say he was leaving work early and heading home.
When Jennifer, 49, returned later that day to their house in Troy, Illinois, she found Richard’s car sitting in the driveway, but there was no sign of him inside the home.
After trying to reach him and checking with family members, Jennifer contacted the Troy Police Department the following day and reported him missing.
“I thought, well, maybe he might’ve taken a walk, because he was maybe stressed out,” she told People. “I mean, it’s not something that he would normally do, but then again, you never know what people would do.”
‘Sewer-like’ odor
Police launched a search almost immediately and began by walking through the Maedge home, described by Chief Deputy Coroner Kelly Rogers as a “hoarder home.”
“‘Hoarder’ is a strong word, he was more – I would consider, more of a pack rat,” Jennifer said, explaining her handyman husband worked with an agency that provided care for individuals with disabilities, and “didn’t want to get rid of anything.”
The initial search, complicated by the condition of the residence, turned up nothing.
Officers did notice something unusual inside the house – a strong odor that investigators described as “sewer-like.” According to Fox59, police could not determine where the smell was coming from.
Smell lingered
As the weeks passed and the search produced no answers, the unexplained odor inside the home remained.
When Troy police returned for a second search, officers again noticed the odor but still could not find its source.
Jennifer later explained that several factors made it difficult to pinpoint where the smell was coming from: “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 told People.
Hoping to solve the problem, the family called a plumber to inspect the house. According to Rogers, the plumber identified the odor as sewer gas and capped one of the pipes in the basement, which appeared to eliminate the smell.
“A lot less magic”
While Jennifer waited for answers, Richard’s sister Marilyn Toliver worked to keep attention on her brother’s disappearance.
From her home in Georgia, she turned to social media, posting updates and missing-person flyers on Facebook almost daily in hopes that someone might recognize Richard or come forward with information.
By late November, as the holidays approached, the emotional toll of the search weighed heavily on the family.
In a Nov. 30, 2022 Facebook post, she wrote: “DAY 218. I thought you should know how the holidays will have a little less shine and a lot less magic. I thought you should know that I’m trying my best. I thought you should know that I talk to you often in hopes that you can hear me. We search for you in each new day.
“I thought you should know you’re loved, wherever you are…I just thought you should know!”
‘Committed suicide’
Just days later, on Dec. 11, 2022, Jennifer began preparing the house for Christmas, hoping that decorating might bring some comfort after months of uncertainty.
“I know it may sound odd,” she told People. “I was just trying to figure out the best way to celebrate the holidays without knowing the whereabouts of my husband.”
While searching for Christmas decorations, Jennifer pulled aside hanging clothes and reached into a storage space beneath the staircase, sweeping a flashlight through the dark.
That beam revealed what investigators had somehow missed.
“That’s when I discovered him…He had committed suicide,” Jennifer said in an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat.
Mummified remains
She later said Richard had struggled with mental health issues in the past but had always gone for help when he felt himself reaching a breaking point.
“So, this would be the most farfetched of anything, that he would actually go through with this,” the grieving wife shared. “He never verbalized anything [like] he would take his life to me.”
After the discovery, authorities examined Richard’s remains.
The coroner said Richard’s remains had reached a mummified state – a process that occurs when bodily fluids evaporate or are absorbed, leaving the skin dried and preserved.
Bodies in this condition often produce little odor, Rogers said, which helps explain why the smell inside the home proved so difficult to trace during earlier searches.
‘Hardest 229 days’
On Dec. 17, 2022, Richard’s sister posted a final message about her brother on Facebook.
“My little Brother Richard, I always thought I would see you again,” Toliver wrote alongside a childhood photo of Richard on a bike.
She also thanked the community that supported the family during the search: “Troy thank you for keeping his family close you. Your constant concern and your prayers can never be forgotten.”
She added, “It was the saddest, hardest 229 days of our life. We want to hug all of you!”
What are your thoughts on this heartbreaking story? Let us know in the comments, and please share this story so others can join the conversation.
READ MORE
- Missing girl who was kidnapped six years ago found alive living under different name
- Heartbreaking update in search for missing mom who never arrived to pick up her children
