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Body of Iowa supermarket employee who went missing 10 years ago found stuck behind store freezer

Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, 25, was reported missing on November 28, 2009 after he ran out of his home after an argument with his parents
UPDATED JUL 23, 2019

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA: The body of a man that was found in January this year behind a freezer in the No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs has been identified.

The remains were identified as those of Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, 25, who had been missing for 10 years.

He was reported missing on November 28, 2009. According to his parents, he ran out of their home after an argument with them and that was that last they had seen of him. 

According to reports, Murillo-Moncada was a former employee of the supermarket, which shut down three years ago.

Des Moines Register reported that officials from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation used his parents' DNA to confirm the identity, and the clothes matched the description of his attire at the time he went missing. An autopsy was conducted and it showed no signs of foul play and the death has been ruled as accidental.

The body was discovered between a gap between the back of the cooler units and the wall of the supermarket when workers were removing shelves and the freezer unit in the abandoned building. 

Council Bluffs Police Sgt. Brandon Danielson told the Des Moines Register that he suspected it was Murillo-Moncada right from the start.

Investigators now believe that Murillo-Moncada went to the supermarket and climbed on top of the coolers and fell into a gap between the back of the units and the wall that measured about 18 inches and became trapped.

The sound of the freezer may have drowned out his cries for help, said Sgt. Danielson.

“That’s about a 12-ft-fall. The noise of the freezer units also could have made it difficult to hear any cries for help. It’s so loud, there’s probably no way anyone heard him,” he said.

Many shoppers have also taken to social media to complain about the stench in the store. One shopper said that she had even asked a butcher if the back area had dried blood from cutting meat, which he denied. One shopper also talked about how she felt sick because of the smell. 

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