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Hoarding disorder is a psychological condition defined by the excessive accumulation of belongings. Those suffering from hoarding often acquire far more items than they need and struggle to part with them, regardless of how insignificant or useless they might be.
If you’ve ever seen an episode of the reality TV series Hoarders, you know how extreme these situations can get. Once-pristine homes transform into spaces overflowing with trash, debris, waste, and pests, leading to horrific and unhealthy living conditions.
However, it also highlights that those battling hoarding disorder are often good-hearted individuals who are trapped by their possessions. Here are 10 tragic stories of hoarders who couldn’t escape the clutter and spent their final days surrounded by filth.
10. Sally Honeycheck
Sally Honeycheck and her sister Lorraine lived in the house their parents purchased in 1951 and never moved away. From the outside, everything seemed perfectly ordinary—the house was freshly painted, the yard was well-kept, and both women appeared neat and tidy. However, the true horror inside the home remained hidden until it was far too late to help.
Over the decades, the sisters had accumulated a vast array of belongings, including clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, and baseball memorabilia. As a result of their hoarding, the house lacked proper heating, mold grew on the walls, the walls were stained with grime, and the floor had begun to sag.
During the Thanksgiving weekend of 2018, Honeycheck's cousin, Linda Kajma, attempted to contact her by phone but received no answer. Concerned, Kajma decided to visit her cousin’s home. What she didn’t expect was to walk into the horrifying reality of her cousins' home, which had been hidden for so long.
When Kajma entered the house, she was greeted by the shocking sight of a bloated corpse with no eyes, nose, or mouth slumped in a blue lawn chair. Only a few bones and strands of hair were visible beneath a red sweater. Initially, Kajma believed it to be a Halloween prank. But as she moved deeper into the house, navigating through piles of clutter, she realized the “skeleton” in the chair was, tragically, her cousin Sally. Even more disturbing was the fact that Honeycheck’s Rottweiler, Jack, had been feeding on her remains. Jack, too, was found dead in the home due to the unspeakable living conditions.
9. Scunthorpe Man
In Scunthorpe, England, police were called on January 14, 2022, to check on an elderly man who had not been seen since before Christmas. His neighbors were aware of his hoarding habits and knew the outside of his property had become quite an eyesore.
The elderly man’s yard was overwhelmed with trash and clutter, to the point where the weight of his hoarded items caused the fence to collapse, spilling his belongings into the neighboring yard. His house lacked both windows and doors, had no electricity, and no indoor toilet. Furthermore, the property had been suffering from a persistent water leak for 15 years, which also caused flooding in nearby properties.
Tony Graves, a relative of one of the man’s neighbors, explained, “He often barricaded himself inside his home to avoid anyone offering help.” Sadly, his isolation was exactly what he wanted, as officers found him dead, surrounded by the filth of his hoarded possessions.
8. Evelyn Sakash
Evelyn Sakash was an accomplished set and production designer who worked on many beloved TV shows like Sesame Street, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Orange Is the New Black, and various films. She was renowned not only for her immense talent but also for her generosity and willingness to assist others whenever needed.
Sakash, however, was also a compulsive hoarder. Her front yard was littered with oversized furniture, trash cans, and construction materials, while inside the house, piles of items—such as cardboard boxes and clothes—towered as high as 5 feet (1.5 meters).
After Sakash went missing in October 2020, her sister hired a cleaning crew to clear out her home. Tragically, the crew uncovered Sakash’s mummified body beneath a pile of debris in the kitchen.
7. Skip Bynum
Worried friends of 67-year-old Dallas resident Skip Bynum, who had been missing for almost two weeks, reached out to the police in hopes of finding the elderly man. Bynum had lived in his home with his mother until her passing a few years prior. He had no other family. When authorities arrived at his house, they were confronted with such a vast hoard that they had to cut a hole in the roof and crawl through the attic to access the interior.
Cadaver dogs and a search team were brought in to assist, but at first, they only uncovered the body of a dead raccoon. The search continued for two more days as piles of trash, debris, and jugs filled with urine and feces were cleared out. Finally, around noon on the second day, Bynum's body was found.
Amid the tragic discovery, there was one positive outcome—firefighters were able to rescue Bynum’s dog, Buddy, who was still alive in the home. Buddy was then handed over to one of Bynum’s friends.
6. Rita Corpin
Rita Corpin, a retired history teacher, had dedicated 40 years of her life to educating young minds. Though she was known to be “eccentric and terribly lonely,” her hoarding tendencies escalated into a serious disorder after her boyfriend passed away from a heart attack.
Corpin had a long-standing issue with the city officials of Santa Ana, California, as neighbors frequently complained about the poor condition of her home and two other properties she owned, all of which were in similar states of disrepair. Despite receiving notices and fines from the city, Corpin’s hoarding behavior persisted. She would do the bare minimum to comply with the regulations and keep authorities away but never allowed them access to her property.
In June 2014, Corpin’s lifeless body was discovered by a gardener. She was seated in a chair on her front porch, surrounded by trash and numerous cats. The debris surrounding Corpin was so overwhelming that it took officers over three hours to clear a path to remove her body from the premises.
5. Bruce Roberts
Bruce Roberts inherited his late parents' home at a young age, along with $1 million. Over the next 40 to 50 years, he had very little contact with the outside world. He was known to be reclusive and was easily recognized by his neighbors, particularly by the brown coat he wore every day as he wandered up and down the street.
Roberts’ home was infamously known as the “creepy house on the corner.” The property was surrounded by barbed wire, its windows were nailed shut, and cans littered the yard. Despite the disarray and his isolation, Roberts became a cause for concern in 2017 when he stopped running errands or even checking his mail. His neighbors, worried about his well-being, called the police to investigate.
Upon the arrival of the police, they discovered the house overwhelmed with debris and trash, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. In addition, they found Roberts' decaying body—partially in the hallway and the other part, charred and slumped over a heater. However, the grim scene didn’t end with Roberts's body. A year later, when a cleaning crew attempted to clear the hoard, they came across a disturbing sight—another corpse surrounded by 70 bottles of air freshener.
The second body was later identified as Shane Snellman, who had been missing since 2002. It’s believed that Snellman tried to break into Roberts’s home and was shot several times. Despite this, Roberts kept Snellman’s body in his home for nearly 15 years, using large quantities of air freshener to conceal the odor.
4. James Pettit
James Pettit was a former National Grid worker who had lived in his Birmingham, West Midlands home for the past four decades. On the outside, Pettit seemed to have it all together, often seen well-dressed, carrying dry cleaning after a taxi ride. However, the reality of his life inside his home was far from the polished image he projected to the outside world.
In January 2020, police were called to Pettit’s home for a welfare check. When they forced open the door, a torrent of junk poured out. Pettit’s lifeless body was found upstairs, buried beneath a mountain of clutter. Tragically, it took five hours to clear the hoard before they could safely reach him and remove his body from the home.
3. John Arthur Noble
John Arthur Noble resided in West Yorkshire, living in a home with doors and windows sealed off to keep the outside world from witnessing the hoard within. The only people who ever approached his door were those delivering groceries, but Noble refused to interact with anyone.
Despite efforts from his brother Roy, neighbors, and social services to contact him, Noble cut off everyone, including his own children. He earned the reputation of being a “reclusive hoarder living in squalor.” This lifestyle, however, wasn’t always his reality. After divorcing his wife about 30 years earlier, he turned to drinking, hoarding, and eventually severed ties with his family.
In April 2021, Noble’s mummified body was discovered in his home. Neighbors told authorities they hadn’t seen him in over a year. He was found lying beside a sofa, surrounded by hundreds of empty cigarette packets and numerous bottles of urine. Officers also discovered rooms filled with food (some dating back to 2019 and 2020), beer, videotapes, additional urine bottles, and outdated mail.
2. Katherine Smith
When disturbing odors and signs of rodents emerged from Katherine Smith’s home in Peoria, Arizona, local authorities were called to check on the 66-year-old woman. However, due to the extreme hoarding conditions inside, the police were unable to enter directly and had to use drones to survey the property. Once Smith’s body was located, it took a team from the Peoria Police Special Assignment Unit, wearing hazmat suits and wading through piles of trash, to recover her decomposed, mummified remains.
Following the discovery of Smith’s body, complaints began flooding in from neighbors about a rat infestation in the area. One neighbor even reported having “50 rats in her yard.” Biohazard and cleanup teams swiftly arrived, removing enough waste to fill nine dumpsters.
During their clean-up efforts, workers stumbled upon a redtail python and a ball python in their enclosures. It was then revealed that Smith had been breeding rats to feed her pet snakes. However, after her death, the rat population exploded out of control, spreading throughout the neighborhood.
1. Dean Verboven
Dean Verboven, 42, resided in Greenwich, Connecticut, with his 69-year-old mother, Barbara. Barbara had worked for the Board of Education in Greenwich but had to leave her job due to illness, and Dean became her primary caregiver.
The state of their home became a concern to the neighborhood, with neighbors noting that although the Verbovens were “sweet, nice people,” the hoarding made their property an eyesore. In October 2012, a dumpster was placed on the property, and social workers were scheduled to help clear the clutter. However, Dean, determined not to part with his belongings or his home, tragically set a fire and ended his life. Firefighters were able to rescue Barbara from the flames and rush her to a nearby hospital for care.
