Remains Found in Supermarket Identified as Man Who Went Missing 10 Years Ago

Exterior of the No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in August 2011. (Google Maps Street View/Screenshot)

The body of a Midwestern man who went missing a decade ago in Iowa was identified on Monday, July 22.

Council Bluffs Police Department said a DNA test confirmed the remains belonged to Larry Murillo-Moncada.

Officers discovered the body in an 18-inch gap between the back of a cooler and wall of the No Frills Supermarket at 1817 West Broadway, 128 miles west of Des Moines. The business has been closed since March 2016.

Murillo-Moncada’s parents helped the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory positively identify the missing man by providing a sample of their DNA, according to KETV.

Parents of Murillo-Moncada, then 25, reported him missing back in Nov. 28, 2009 after they said he became upset and ran away from home, according to a press release obtained by the Associated Press.

Police said the Council Bluffs man worked for the supermarket at the time and it was not unusual for workers to be in the storage space above the coolers according to statements made by former employees.

Contract workers made the grisly discovery on Jan. 24 while dismantling shelves and coolers from the premises. They called police once they discovered the body and responding officers said it appeared “to have been there an extended period of time,” reported AP.

Police said the Pottawattamie Medical Examiner’s Office assisted with the investigation and an autopsy was ordered in Ankeny, 14 miles north of Des Moines. The autopsy found no evidence of trauma, reported KETV.

Investigators speculate Murillo-Moncada entered the store and climbed on top of the coolers before falling into the gap and becoming trapped. The missing person case has been classified as an accidental death and closed.

The building has allegedly been looted at least once since closing, with police arresting one man for stealing copper from the back of supermarket back in Nov. 2016.

Police arrested Dustin Adkins, then 33, who was accused of removing a large gauge copper wire. He was charged with theft and criminal mischief, reported KETV.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.