Mummy in the Bathtub

This is a bizarre story of a mummified man found in a bathtub in a cottage located in Phoenix. It was 2008 when the Phoenix police responded to a call by the owners of a group of cottages. They led the police to cottage #4 which was rented out to an adult male named Larry since 1995. Larry seemed rather quiet, kept to himself, and paid his rent on time until 2007. When they went to confront him on the nonpayment, they found the cottage abandoned with his items still in the premises. Larry never returned so the owners decided to clean up the place and remove his stuff. They found the place stacked from floor to ceiling with trash, and personal items in such deplorable conditions. The smell was horrendous and for the owners it was a hording nightmare. With the assistance of others, they started removing the debris. When they finally reached the bathroom, they found the tub covered with plywood and plastic. They removed the items from the tub and found it full of dirt and sand. As soon as they started removing the dirt, a human leg was exposed and the police was called.

The entire bathtub was removed along with the man’s body found inside. The dirt and sand seem to dry up the body transforming it into the mummified state which it was found in. Upon examination they established that the person was deceased for a number of years and labeled the death as “unknown”. They did not officially declare how he died or who he was. From the evidence they found, the body appeared to be that of the original renter, Larry, but they could not draw an exact conclusion.

The story circulating was that the man who last lived in cottage #4 was either a friend or acquaintance of the original renter and possibly his killer. It is not clear if Larry was killed or died of natural causes. This man appeared to take over Larry’s identity, was cashing his checks, and paying his bills which included rent. From testimony of the other cottage tenants, they found out that a man named Ronald had been living there for a few years. As far as they knew, Larry had left and Ronald moved in.  Ronald is a person of interest in the unsolved crime, but his whereabouts are still unknown till this day.