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Woman suffocates under piles of clutter in home
Local6.com ^ | Jan 7, 2006 | Local 6.com

Posted on 01/09/2006 6:22:49 AM PST by plain talk

A woman in Shelton, Wash., who was reported missing by her husband, was found dead under piles of clutter in their home, where she suffocated to death, according to police. Shelton Police Chief Terry Davenport said the home was so cluttered that police officers' heads touched the ceiling as they climbed over the clutter.

Authorities found the body of 62-year-old Marie Rose buried under clothes after 10 hours of searching. She reportedly suffered from a condition known as hoarding. Rose's husband believes she fell while looking for the phone in the house this week and suffocated. There were so many piles of items that the man did not realize she was dead in the home.

(Excerpt) Read more at local6.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: disorders; hoard; hoarder; hoarders; hoarding; obsessivecompulsive; ocd; pigsty; squalor; stuff
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To: linda_22003
There was a BBC show where the organizer would come in and clean out and organize, but she would also try to get the people to realize that there were some real reasons behind their hoarding. Like the lady who couldn't get rid of her murdered mothers stuff.
201 posted on 01/09/2006 4:21:38 PM PST by voiceinthewind
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To: Xenalyte
"can't afford to buy more bookshelves"

I dumpster dived and curb-crawled old dressers, and the mister took out the drawers, screwed them together like a totem pole, added some reclaimed molding. I curb-crawled the paint too. So far two bookcases that only took our time. I'd rather spend the money on more books!
202 posted on 01/09/2006 4:25:25 PM PST by voiceinthewind
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To: WorkingClassFilth

Sent this to my wife hoping she will get the message


203 posted on 01/09/2006 4:25:26 PM PST by woofie
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To: Xenalyte

But they are clearly saving all that neat stuff for you Xena !!! Where's the looooooooooooove ?;o)

I know of an older lady down the block pushing a hundred years in age that has the original paper reporting the sinking of the titanic and the days / years before and after. She even kept her War Bond Stamp books etc etc and albeit she is very neat their isn't room in that place for a fart to form !

She said she might "need" some of that stuff someday......


204 posted on 01/09/2006 4:30:19 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: SelmaLee

I only just organized my stash, of course I did go out and buy some more neutrals this past weekend...

Here is a link you might find interesting:

http://quiltville.com/scrapusersystem.shtml


205 posted on 01/09/2006 4:30:31 PM PST by voiceinthewind
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To: retrokitten

My wife, FIL, and MIL are the biggest hoarders I have ever seen. They will not throw away anything. Last year, my FIL had a circuit board for a 1980s microwave oven that he was saving. If you open a closet at the inlaws, be very careful for falling objects.


206 posted on 01/09/2006 4:37:44 PM PST by dc27
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To: Libertina
LOL Hey, why you pinging ME? ;)\

'Cuz it's why we don't invite people here? *\;-)

Seriously, we've had some friends who were like this. One was okay until her husband passed away, then little piles appeared and started growing. The last time we were at her place (many years ago), there were pathways through it all. Many pathways, but the trend could be seen.

The worst was some dozen years back when we helped a friend and his wife move from their South Seattle rental house. There was one pathway through each room, and it was piled chest high. It was so bad we were floored to discover a piano buried so deep we had no idea it was there.

207 posted on 01/09/2006 4:38:30 PM PST by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† | Libs: Celebrate MY diversity! | Iran Azadi 2006 | Is it February yet?)
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To: CajunConservative; sweet_diane
People who are hoarders are usually quite difficult to live with when you try to part them from their things. Hoarding is actually a symptom of obssessive compulsive disorder. I was a case manager for mentally ill people and I had a couple of hoarders on my caseload. For most hoarders the clutter makes them feel secure.

My sister and I could tell you stories about our father, he is a hoarder. He's not well now, after bacterial meningitis, so all he hoards is candy, but he used to be an attorney used to getting this his way, so we had to live with it.

There were paths in our living room. We used to save garbage bags of stuff to throw out and then take them to the dumpster while he was at work. And one time he had a serious fit when my sister threw out a rubber-bound collection of swizzle sticks from the restaurants he had gone to. It wasn't a serious collection, they were lying in the drawer along with packs of matches from every restaurant, etc...

We would open the hall closet to something for the bathroom and the stacks of towels, toilet paper and soap would often fall onto our heads.

I think he would have loved to be different--it was always a massive undertaking to entertain people, in contrast to the well-kept homes of his partners--but he really could not help himself.

208 posted on 01/09/2006 4:45:48 PM PST by proud American in Canada
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To: CajunConservative; sweet_diane

Sweet diane, I pinged you on the earlier thread because I, too, am a Flylady fan. She's great. :)


209 posted on 01/09/2006 4:46:39 PM PST by proud American in Canada
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To: dc27
If you open a closet at the inlaws, be very careful for falling objects.

LOL, please see my post #208. Been there, done that. :)

210 posted on 01/09/2006 4:48:21 PM PST by proud American in Canada
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To: proud American in Canada
Flylady is the best, most important she teaches you how to maintain your home.
211 posted on 01/09/2006 4:53:00 PM PST by exdem2000
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To: proud American in Canada
When I get the chance to get rid of the junk, small amounts at a time, I had to put the trash bag in my trunk and toss it at work. My wife will go and pull junk out of the trash to keep. Any horizontal surface has catalogs, magazines, etc stacked on it.
212 posted on 01/09/2006 4:56:33 PM PST by dc27
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To: linda_22003
http://www.ocfoundation.org/1005/m140a_001.htm It's an OCD site, so there's a lot of clinical stuff non-pshrinks will probably want to skim through, but it's a fascinating story.
213 posted on 01/09/2006 5:07:46 PM PST by ReignOfError
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To: exdem2000
Flylady is the best, most important she teaches you how to maintain your home.

Yes, and she helps you to realize that keeping your home maintained is a question of self-respect: "Finally Loving Yourself," as she says.

214 posted on 01/09/2006 5:08:42 PM PST by proud American in Canada
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To: dc27
My wife will go and pull junk out of the trash to keep

So did my dad (and he would if he had the strength today). I remember that he laughed at himself sometimes; he once had a ceremony when he threw a white "weekend work" t-shirt that had more holes than fabric left. It was that big a deal. :)

I have a hard time throwing things away too, though I don't come anywhere near my dad's level. It's mostly sentimental stuff that is hard for me to give/throw away.

However, when my husband cleans the house, there suddenly seems to be a lot more space, and though it's very tempting, I try not to look in the huge filled garbage bag. :)

215 posted on 01/09/2006 5:14:04 PM PST by proud American in Canada
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To: exdem2000
It looks like we should have a FlyLady Ping List.

I wonder if Marla has seen this. So sad!

216 posted on 01/09/2006 5:18:44 PM PST by Mrs. P
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To: plain talk

I used to have a wonderfully delightful, elderly second-cousin (We called her "aunt" because she was quite elderly, and she had so few relatives left.) She had her entire house neatly stacked from floor to ceiling--with paths throughout the house leading from one necessary place to another. When we'd visit, she'd give us treasures from her stacks--antique dolls and other ancient toys in perfect conditions. She'd never had a child, and she had wanted kids so badly.

She was nothing if not neat! She had been a county clerk for years...an amazing woman.


217 posted on 01/09/2006 5:43:58 PM PST by bannie (The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
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To: Mamzelle
... Except that when you want it, you can't find it!

You might have a point there. I know where I first put everything... but it's easy to lose track after shuffling things around every now and then. I promise -- I'm trying to clean out old stuff every now and then.

Well, I kind of promise... at least a little.

218 posted on 01/09/2006 6:54:17 PM PST by ken in texas
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To: bannie

Write a story about her...


219 posted on 01/09/2006 7:56:25 PM PST by Mamzelle
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To: I_like_good_things_too
Maybe the stuff could get, uh, accidently damaged & have to be thrown away. It's happened at our house...

**************

LOL!

220 posted on 01/10/2006 4:51:09 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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