A Houston man says he has been staying in a hotel because the smell from a decomposing body found in another condo became so overwhelming inside his own home that he could no longer live there.
The resident, identified by KHOU 11 as Lakin, said the problem began when he returned from a work trip and noticed flies near a neighbor’s door. When he moved closer, he smelled a strong odor and eventually called 911.
That call led firefighters to check the neighboring unit. KHOU reported that Houston police confirmed a 68-year-old man was found dead inside, with his body already in an active state of decomposition. Police found no apparent signs of foul play.
The body was removed, but Lakin said the smell did not leave with it. Days later, he was still paying for a hotel while trying to figure out what could be done about the odor he said had spread through his condo and belongings.
Still In The Air
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“I can’t go to work. I’ve not been eating. I can’t even do anything,” Lakin told KHOU as the station visited the building.
He said the odor had gotten into his food and clothing and feared it had also permeated his furniture and walls. A KHOU photographer followed him inside while he collected belongings to take back to his hotel.
Lakin had already started documenting the problem and looking for help. He notified his landlady and the condo’s HOA, sent his landlady a written notice by certified mail, and filed a 311 request asking the city to inspect his unit.
KHOU said it had also contacted the landlady and HOA, but had not received responses by the time of its report.
Help Next Door
While Lakin was showing the KHOU crew where his neighbor had been found, he noticed something he apparently had not known was happening.
A biohazard crew was inside the neighboring condo cleaning and deodorizing it.
Jim Green of Houston Clean Response told the station he had been doing that type of work for nearly 25 years. Asked whether the odor from a decomposing body could travel into another unit, Green said it could and suggested it might move through drywall.
After hearing what Lakin had been dealing with, Green offered to return and help deodorize Lakin’s condo if the resident was still unable to get assistance by early the following week.
Another Knock
More help arrived while KHOU was still at the building.
Houston Health Department workers came to Lakin’s condo and inspected it using meters. The station reported that, during the visit, workers had not determined whether the unit was safe for him to occupy.
For Lakin, the inspection came after several days of trying to get some kind of resolution while living elsewhere at his own expense.
“My home is everything to me,” he told KHOU. “My home is my sanctuary.”
KHOU said it was still waiting to learn the Health Department’s findings when its report aired.