Missing man was stuck behind coolers at supermarket for 10 years, Iowa cops say

After nearly 10 years, a family in Iowa finally has answers.

Larry Murillo-Moncada was 25 years old when he got upset and ran out of his parents’ Iowa home in November 2009, according to WYFF. His parents reported him missing, but they never heard from their son again.

In January 2019, a discovery was made that would ultimately provide insight into their son’s disappearance.

Contractors were removing shelves and coolers out of an old No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa, when they discovered a body behind the coolers, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The store had closed in 2016, KGAN reported.

Police announced on Monday that the body belonged to Murillo-Moncada, the Des Moines Register reported.

Murillo-Moncado was an employee of the supermarket at the time of his disappearance, WYFF reported. Former employees told investigators that it was common for them to climb up on top of the coolers. It’s believed that Murillo-Moncado was doing just that when he fell into the 18-inch gap between one of the coolers and the wall, the TV station reported.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was able to identify Murillo-Moncado using his parents’ DNA, the Des Moines Register reported. After an autopsy turned up no sign of trauma, his death was ruled an accident, the newspaper reported.

In 2009, Ana Moncado, the victim’s mother, said her son had been “disoriented” prior to his disappearance and heard voices telling him to “eat sugar,” the Omaha World-Herald reported.

“He felt his heart was beating too hard and thought if he ate sugar, his heart would not beat so hard,” she said, according to the newspaper.

This story was originally published July 22, 2019 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Missing man was stuck behind coolers at supermarket for 10 years, Iowa cops say."