Couple trapped in trash cut off contact with family, friends
May 25, 2010 6:48 PM
City building inspector Lauren Mosley photographs the kitchen at a home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street where an elderly couple were found buried under mounds of trash. (Alex Garcia/Tribune)
David O'Neal hadn't seen his sister for six to eight years.
Then Monday night, her neighbor called him with unbelievable news: Thelma Gaston and her husband Jesse --- both in their 70s -- had been found buried alive under mounds of trash and debris in their Grand Crossing home, possibly for as long as three weeks.
"I was surprised. I wanted to come to Chicago as soon as possible," said O'Neal, who lives in the Seattle area. "I love and care about her."
A fire official on the scene said the couple had not been heard from for three weeks, and Thelma Gaston, 75, had injuries that resembled rat bites. Both she and Jesse Gaston, 76, were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition, but a nurse there said this morning their conditions were improved, though they still were in intensive care.
Thelma Gaston may have fallen through the debris and become trapped. When her husband tried to come to her aid, he apparently became trapped as well, according to Fire Department spokesman Kevin MacGregor.
The Gastons' neighbors shared O'Neal's shock. They rarely saw the couple -- Thelma, a retired school teacher, and Jesse a retired zoologist.
"It just brought me to tears to see the condition they were found in," said next-door neighbor Reola Valentne, 59, who called 311 about 4 p.m. Monday and asked for a well-being check that led to their discovery.
She said she didn't know the couple, but had not seen the man mowing his lawn for quite some time and saw that his gray truck parked outside was accumulating parking tickets.
Over the last few weeks, she said, various people came to their door and, when their knocking went unanswered, frequently came to her to ask if she knew anything.
Chicago police showed up about 6:30 p.m. at the home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street and noticed an overpowering odor. Officers called the Fire Department to make a forced entry.
The stench was so strong that fire personnel had to don hazardous material suits to deal with the debris. Paramedics reported seeing rodents on the property. The couple apparently were the only residents in the two-story apartment building.
"It (the residence) was packed from floor to ceiling," said Grand Crossing District Police Lt. Dale Kingsley.
Rosie Gaston Funches, Jesse Gaston's sister who lives in south suburban Glenwood, said she knew something was wrong when the couple had their phone disconnected about three weeks ago.
"I've tried repeatedly to contact my brother, but he's made no effort (to be reachable)," she said. "If I knew (he lived in squalor), I'd clean that mess up myself."
O'Neal said he has tried calling her once a month but hasn't been able to reach either her or her husband. When he's visited Chicago, he's tried to visit his sister and her husband but "nobody answered the door."
Hattie Fields, 83, who also lives next door, said the couple rarely made contact with neighbors. Fields, who has lived in her home since 1965, said the couple had lived in the building for more than 15 years but it has been a number of years since she has spoken with them.
"They didn't communicate with anybody," Fields said.
"I thought it was an abandoned building actually," said another neighbor, Cleopatra Ingram, who said she has lived in the neighborhood for a year. "Someone should have checked on them. You'd walk past and there was no one there at all."
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said firefighters forced their way through the back of the second-floor apartment. He described one of the victims as "conscious" and the other as "semi-conscious."
The city's Department of Buildings wrote 16 citations on the residence this afternoon, citing the couple with everything from failure to maintain fences to failure to "stop noxious odors from permeating dwelling or premises."
"The citations were written for the purpose of getting a court order to allow for an emergency clean up," said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the department.
--Deanese Williams-Harris, Pat Curry, Jeremy Gorner and Jennifer Delgado
Click HERE for a WGN-TV report on this story.
The backyard of the home. (WGN-TV)
City building inspector Lauren Mosley photographs the kitchen at a home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street where an elderly couple were found buried under mounds of trash. (Alex Garcia/Tribune)David O'Neal hadn't seen his sister for six to eight years.
Then Monday night, her neighbor called him with unbelievable news: Thelma Gaston and her husband Jesse --- both in their 70s -- had been found buried alive under mounds of trash and debris in their Grand Crossing home, possibly for as long as three weeks.
"I was surprised. I wanted to come to Chicago as soon as possible," said O'Neal, who lives in the Seattle area. "I love and care about her."
A fire official on the scene said the couple had not been heard from for three weeks, and Thelma Gaston, 75, had injuries that resembled rat bites. Both she and Jesse Gaston, 76, were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition, but a nurse there said this morning their conditions were improved, though they still were in intensive care.
Thelma Gaston may have fallen through the debris and become trapped. When her husband tried to come to her aid, he apparently became trapped as well, according to Fire Department spokesman Kevin MacGregor.
The Gastons' neighbors shared O'Neal's shock. They rarely saw the couple -- Thelma, a retired school teacher, and Jesse a retired zoologist."It just brought me to tears to see the condition they were found in," said next-door neighbor Reola Valentne, 59, who called 311 about 4 p.m. Monday and asked for a well-being check that led to their discovery.
She said she didn't know the couple, but had not seen the man mowing his lawn for quite some time and saw that his gray truck parked outside was accumulating parking tickets.
Over the last few weeks, she said, various people came to their door and, when their knocking went unanswered, frequently came to her to ask if she knew anything.
Chicago police showed up about 6:30 p.m. at the home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street and noticed an overpowering odor. Officers called the Fire Department to make a forced entry.
The stench was so strong that fire personnel had to don hazardous material suits to deal with the debris. Paramedics reported seeing rodents on the property. The couple apparently were the only residents in the two-story apartment building.
"It (the residence) was packed from floor to ceiling," said Grand Crossing District Police Lt. Dale Kingsley.
Rosie Gaston Funches, Jesse Gaston's sister who lives in south suburban Glenwood, said she knew something was wrong when the couple had their phone disconnected about three weeks ago.
"I've tried repeatedly to contact my brother, but he's made no effort (to be reachable)," she said. "If I knew (he lived in squalor), I'd clean that mess up myself."
O'Neal said he has tried calling her once a month but hasn't been able to reach either her or her husband. When he's visited Chicago, he's tried to visit his sister and her husband but "nobody answered the door."
Hattie Fields, 83, who also lives next door, said the couple rarely made contact with neighbors. Fields, who has lived in her home since 1965, said the couple had lived in the building for more than 15 years but it has been a number of years since she has spoken with them.
"They didn't communicate with anybody," Fields said.
"I thought it was an abandoned building actually," said another neighbor, Cleopatra Ingram, who said she has lived in the neighborhood for a year. "Someone should have checked on them. You'd walk past and there was no one there at all."
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said firefighters forced their way through the back of the second-floor apartment. He described one of the victims as "conscious" and the other as "semi-conscious."
The city's Department of Buildings wrote 16 citations on the residence this afternoon, citing the couple with everything from failure to maintain fences to failure to "stop noxious odors from permeating dwelling or premises."
"The citations were written for the purpose of getting a court order to allow for an emergency clean up," said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the department.
--Deanese Williams-Harris, Pat Curry, Jeremy Gorner and Jennifer Delgado
Click HERE for a WGN-TV report on this story.
The backyard of the home. (WGN-TV)