# Missing Woman Found in Hotel Mattress. No, Really. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 18, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935 "2010-03-18T20:52:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/1 "2010-03-18T20:52:52Z")
"Our colleagues at Hotel Check-In are carrying a bizarre story this morning out of Memphis where a woman’s body has been found hidden under a bed in the same motel room she was renting at the time she was reported missing in January. It seems that police never checked the room. Worse, the room – with the body still tucked under the bed – has been rented out at least five times since January." :eek: [Missing woman’s body finally found – under bed in her room](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/03/missing-womans-body-finally-found----under-the-bed-in-room-she-rented/1) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/2 "2010-03-18T21:21:35Z")
I find that hard to believe. My first hotel job, as a teen, was a desk clerk at Red Roof Inn. Red Roof Inns were popular with “criminals” because at the time, they all had outside entrances (this has changed). Of course older people and families like the outside entrances too, for easy of unloading cars. Anyway I found tons of things, when I’d inspect rooms. I found, guns, credit cards, tons of porn, drugs. The Red Roof Inns I worked at had drop ceiling in the bathroom which made it easy to hide drugs there and later on the pick up would come a week later or so and request a specific room. Our Red Roof Inn was next to a farm and in the Winter we’d get mice who were able to get under the doors. If one died in there, we used glue traps, it was stink up the room quick enough to cause us to look. I can’t imagine, since the article said the room smelled, that they didn’t think to look or at least think of a dead mouse or something. Unless of course someone knew where she was staying, killed her and then managed to get back in the room at a later date and put the body there. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/3 "2010-03-18T21:25:30Z")
I just can’t understand. A 120-lb decomposing corpse (I’ve never been exposed to a human one, but I have encountered many dead rotten deer in my life ) has an incredibly strong stench - even outdoors many feet away with a stiff wind. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/4 "2010-03-18T21:37:17Z")
I can hardly believe it myself, but it’s being reported by multiple sources. Apparently the frame sat on the floor and the box spring was directly on it, so someone might not have been able to look underneath, but still, it’s going to stink like a dead body. From Fox: "The missing person case quickly turned into a homicide investigation when her body was found under the mattress Monday. No suspects have been identified, but police have charged Millbrook’s boyfriend, LaKeith Moody, with a gun violation and consider him a person of interest in the case. Longtime police officials have noted they’ve “never heard of anything like this,” Joseph Scott, Memphis police’s deputy chief of investigative services, said. “It’s stranger than fiction.” [Missing Woman Found Under Hotel Mattress in Memphis](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/17/missing-woman-hotel-mattress-tennessee/?test=latestnews) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/5 "2010-03-18T22:01:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Longtime police officials have noted they’ve “never heard of anything like this,” Joseph Scott, Memphis police’s deputy chief of investigative services, said. “It’s stranger than fiction.” Except for [all the other times it’s happened](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/bodybed.asp). ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/6 "2010-03-18T22:06:18Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Except for [all the other times it’s happened](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/bodybed.asp). True, but it looks like seven weeks smashes the old record. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/7 "2010-03-18T23:46:24Z")
Weird. I just saw this same thing on a CSI episode a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/8 "2010-03-19T01:52:51Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Weird. I just saw this same thing on a CSI episode a few weeks ago. And will see it again on _Law and Order_ next season. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/9 "2010-03-19T01:57:50Z")
As I said, when I worked at Red Roof Inn, we’d put glue traps under beds, in the winter when it was common for mice to get in rooms, under the doors. And since we ran about 60% capacity in January and Feburary, there were rooms that weren’t rented. But I’ve gone into a room where a mouse was stuck on a gluebaord and died and it smelled HORRIBLE. If a tiny little mouse can do that, I can’t imagine a body. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/10 "2010-03-19T02:04:00Z")
Heck I’ve opened a container where I’ve killed bugs for a school insect collection and that stench was pretty horrible. It’s somewhat unbelievable there was no smell, to me too, **Markxxx**! ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/11 "2010-03-19T03:19:46Z")
I saw this–and I’m _from_ Memphis–it doesn’t surprise me. I feel bad for the lady’s kids. The Brooks Road area is near the airport and is not the best of neighborhoods (I’ve not been there in 20 years, but it was bad then!). I wonder if the motel had such an aroma that a decomposing body would not even be noticed. I actually thought this was a recycling of an urban legend, & checked out that link previously posted to snopes the first thing this morning when I saw it on [commercialappeal.com](http://commercialappeal.com). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/12 "2010-03-19T03:24:00Z")
I traveled for work once, to St. Cloud, Minnesota. I don’t remember the name of the motel, but one of my co-workers said the stench in his room was awful. He complained, and management asked if he wanted to leave. Nobody offered to check the room for the source of the smell. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/13 "2010-03-19T11:40:40Z")
As someone who has lived in Memphis for 40 years, nothing in this story surprises me. Especially not the part where the police refused to search the room. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/14 "2010-03-19T12:53:52Z")
When I heard the news story from the OP, I thought of the Kuklinski case (mentioned in the Snopes link), since it’s discussed in a book by Michael Baden (noteworthy/notorious forensic pathologist). ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/15 "2010-03-19T13:06:03Z")
There was a case in Columbus, Georgia (I believe) back around 1990 or so. Same set-up…pedestal-style bed, man complains about smell… ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/16 "2010-03-20T02:07:12Z")
Snopes works fast… they’ve already got this incident covered in their article about bodies-under-beds. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/17 "2010-03-20T03:26:02Z")
> [@hellpaso](#): > > I wonder if the motel had such an aroma that a decomposing body would not even be noticed. Jesus. What kind of hotels do you guys have over there in Memphis?! ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/18 "2010-03-20T03:33:40Z")
Ew. Ewewewewewewewe. Can you imagine realizing you were the next guest to stay in that room? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/19 "2010-03-20T03:42:42Z")
> [@Velma](#): > > Ew. Ewewewewewewewe. Can you imagine realizing you were the next guest to stay in that room? Can you imagine realizing you already _had_ stayed in that room? Slept on the bed, watched television, had sex, with a CORPSE underneath you? ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935/20 "2010-03-20T04:06:36Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Jesus. What kind of hotels do you guys have over there in Memphis?! Hey–I left there over 20 years ago. Don’t believe what you see on TV singing the praises of that place. Keep in mind that they all have a full film crew and most likely a security detail when they’re filming. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, considering the (in)competency of local law enforcement, for the police to neglect truly investigating the situation. Unfortunately, my poor Mama & brother live there–they can’t/won’t get out. So I’m still in touch with what happens there. Perhaps I can save one life by letting you all know what Memphis is like. Stay away if at all possible.☹ I’m so sorry if I’ve insulted any Memphians, but it’s not like it was. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-woman-found-in-hotel-mattress-no-really/532935.md?page=2)