Smelly house leads to dead resident
PORTLAND, Ore. — A foul stench coming from a Gresham home recently caused neighbors to call police.
The home on SW Binford Lake Parkway had three feet of trash stacked up on parts of the floor. Rotten deli meats, old cartons of juice and empty soda cans could be seen through the windows.
Neighbors said the elderly homeowner never took out the trash.
“It smelled like death,” said Robert Stuck, who lives two doors down.
In late July, the odor got so bad, neighbors called police. When they arrived, officers found the homeowner dead inside.
In the Police report, the Gresham Officer wrote, “in my five years of law enforcement, this is the worst, most filthy house I have ever been in. The smell was overpowering. There was trash that filled every inch of the floor inside to include: papers, pop cans, bottles packages of beef, chicken and other unimaginable items that were so old, I could not identify them.”
Officers removed the homeowner’s body but the rancid conditions remained.
Neighbors said, they’ve been hounding city officials to clean it up.
“I’d love to see the house torn down,” Stuck said.
Gresham Communications Manager, Laura Shepard, said city codes can control the upkeep of rental properties’ interior and exterior. But when it comes to owner occupied homes, they don’t have as much power.
“Mostly our code speaks to the exterior of houses,” Shepard said. “So it was really tough for us to get inside the house, an owner occupied house.”
Shepard said the homeowner’s daughter, who lives on the Coast, promised to clean up the mess.
“I understand in the next couple of weeks the daughter will be getting some dumpsters,” Shepard said. “We will be working to clean that out and we’ll see what we can do to help her.”
Neighbors said they hope it happens sooner than later.
By AMANDA BURDEN | kgw