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Family in Shock After Surveying Scene; Home May Have To Be Condemned
An elderly man and woman were rescued from this house in the 1500 block of East 69th Street, which was filled with garbage from floor to ceiling.
Police say they were trapped in their own garbage for days, possibly weeks. There are reports they were covered in rodent bites and both were in critical condition when taken to the hospital. It was so severe that firefighters had to don hazmat suits before they could go inside the home in the South Side's Grand Crossing neighborhood.
On Tuesday morning, the stench was still in the air outside the home, at 1508 E. 69th St., from which the couple was removed Monday.
Neighbors say the man and woman, 76 and 79 respectively, are known on the block as "Mr. and Mrs. Gaston." They are described as quiet, pleasant and well-liked. She would sing Gospel songs outside her window every Sunday. When her voice went silent, neighbors knew something was very wrong.
Meanwhile, flies hovered around mounds of piled up trash in the backyard of the home. A building inspector was on site Tuesday morning sifting through the collection, which is several feet deep, and includes a broken refrigerator, cardboard boxes and filthy lawn chairs.
"The garbage was piled up to – oh, so high – and they say it was the same on the inside, so that's kind of scary," said neighbor Belinda Anderson.
"I knew it needed cleaning a long time ago," said neighbor George Sambo.
Some on the block say they suspected the man and woman who live here were hoarders, but neighbors really became worried because they hadn't seen the couple in a while. They were also worried about the stench.
"Everybody was just kind of concerned because they've been smelling different smells and everything," said Anderson.
"A couple weeks ago, I started missing him and I didn't see him," said Sambo. "I wanted to know what's wrong with him, so I asked my wife and she called and asked for help for him."
The scene was almost too much for Rosie Funches to comprehend.
"How did they walk around?" she asked after seeing the residence.
One look into the second-floor apartment her 75-year-old brother Jesse Gaston lived in with his 79-year-old wife Thelma left Funches and her family shaking their heads.
"I can't believe the condition of this house and that anybody can live in those conditions," said niece Mary Funches.
Relatives said they had no idea about the situation.
"He never kept in contact with the family,' said Mary Funches. "For years, if you tried to call him, you couldn't get him on the telephone; if you tried to visit, you couldn't get in."
"I repeatedly tried to get in touch with my brother, if I knew this, I would have come and cleaned the house myself," Rosie Funches said.
That would have been a tough and hazardous job, given that garbage in some cases was more than six feet high. There is no clean place to step and roaches are crawling all over the place – no telling what is underneath.
If you peek through the front door the building, there is as much trash here as there is in back of the building, and despite the conditions, the Gastons were still getting mail at this address.
"That's my brother, it breaks my heart," Rosie Funches said.
It was that phone call that saved two lives. Police say underneath garbage piled from floor to ceiling, they found the elderly couple, both trapped in their own waste. She evidently tripped and things landed on top of her and then he tried to save her, and also got wedged in the debris.
Anderson knew it was bad inside, but says she didn't know HOW bad.
"Yes, I was surprised because I've known Mr. Gaston for years."
The couple is being treated for malnourishment at Jackson Park Hospital. The building department will begin the process of boarding up the home Tuesday afternoon. The entire building will likely be condemned.
A spokesperson for the city's Department of Family and Support Services said they did make a well-being check, but called police when there was no answer at the door May 24. She said there have been no other calls to that address in the past.
Calls to the hospital for a condition update on the Gastons have not been returned.
Couple Living In Squalor Hospitalized, Building Condemned- UPDATED REPORT - WBBM 780 - Chicago's #1 source for local news, traffic and weather
