GA - Athens, wife finds husband's body in basement after he was missing for a month, 44yo Frank Perry Williams, 09 APR 2025

[Angelcat13]

Reading the story on how she discovered his body - she was trying to put a bicycle in the basement/laundry room. I would guess she doesn't do laundry down there. Specifically because she said the stairs were broken and usafe. I can see how this might be a true story. Maybe he did electrocute himself, as another poster suggested?

“A week ago, Joylynn told me, she began noticing a bad smell coming out the house so she decided to start deep cleaning the home,” the report continued.

As the smell persisted, the woman assumed that it was caused by mold growth but she avoided investigating because she said the staircase was broken and unsafe.

Then on the day she called police, Arnold brought in a bicycle from the yard and while struggling with it on the staircase when the bike fell to the bottom. Going down after it, Arnold said, she turned and saw her husband’s body, then immediately called 911.

Athens man lay dead in basement for month while wife went about her business upstairs

NOTE: The family members of Frank Williams said the woman he lived with was his girlfriend, not his wife as she identified herself to the police.By Joe Johnson Authorities are looking into how a man could lay dead in the basement of his home without the knowledge of his wife who was living...

www.classiccitynews.com

It makes me wonder why she would try to take a bicycle down stairs that she said were too broken and unsafe to go down to look for her husband or check out the bad smell.

 

[Knox]

It makes me wonder why she would try to take a bicycle down stairs that she said were too broken and unsafe to go down to look for her husband or check out the bad smell.

Million $$$ question.

 

[Teamir]

Here are 2 parts that don't add up for me from the article you posted. BBM

As the smell persisted, the woman assumed that it was caused by mold growth but she avoided investigating because she said the staircase was broken and unsafe.

Then on the day she called police, Arnold brought in a bicycle from the yard and while struggling with it on the staircase when the bike fell to the bottom. Going down after it, Arnold said, she turned and saw her husband’s body, then immediately called 911.

Athens man lay dead in basement for month while wife went about her business upstairs

NOTE: The family members of Frank Williams said the woman he lived with was his girlfriend, not his wife as she identified herself to the police.By Joe Johnson Authorities are looking into how a man could lay dead in the basement of his home without the knowledge of his wife who was living...

www.classiccitynews.com

=====================================================================
So the staircase was broken and unsafe, so she then struggles with a bicycle on it trying to get it into the basement she's been avoiding for at least a month? That doesn't ring true for me. How long has the bike been in the yard? Why did she risk life and limb on broken stairs to get a bike down it? And where did the bike from from? If it was one of theirs, I'm guessing in the basement since that's where she said she was putting it.

I'd say a better place for a bike would be the garage but I'm not seeing one. I do see a driveway though. Also, there was ONE person living in this house (after he died) and it's 1850 SF with 6 rooms. You'd think she'd simply store the bike in an empty room and not risk breaking an arm or a leg (or her neck) "struggling" with it on the broken stairs.

Some house details:

https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=630&LayerID=11199&PageTypeID=4&PageID=4601&Q=984045373&KeyValue=062B4+D015

I'm not seeing a whole lot of rain in Athens recently, except for the 7th.

Athens, GA Past Weather Yesterday | Last 30 days - LocalConditions.com

Athens, GA past weather data including previous temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, dew point, rain total, and wind conditions.

www.localconditions.com

I was thinking she was trying to set the bike just inside the door to the basement, not down in the basement. That’s why when it fell the rest of the way down the stairs, she went to retrieve it.

 

[Gemmie]

I was thinking she was trying to set the bike just inside the door to the basement, not down in the basement. That’s why when it fell the rest of the way down the stairs, she went to retrieve it.

My take from the MSM (not that it's always reliable) is that she was trying to put the bike in the basement. No need to struggle with a bike on a broken staircase if you were just going to leave it at the door. JMO

Then on the day she called police, Arnold brought in a bicycle from the yard and while struggling with it on the staircase when the bike fell to the bottom. Going down after it, Arnold said, she turned and saw her husband’s body, then immediately called 911.

Athens man lay dead in basement for month while wife went about her business upstairs

NOTE: The family members of Frank Williams said the woman he lived with was his girlfriend, not his wife as she identified herself to the police.By Joe Johnson Authorities are looking into how a man could lay dead in the basement of his home without the knowledge of his wife who was living...

www.classiccitynews.com

 

[Argonaut]

It's possible he was electrocuted and maybe his body was energized for days or even longer. The circuit breaker may have never tripped because the current flow was low, maybe only an amp or so. It sounds like quite a moist environment with the moldy drywall. He wouldn't even have had used the saw, just plug in it. That age house would not have GFI protection and lots of old wiring is not up to code and/or even wired wrong.

 

[Gemmie]

It's possible he was electrocuted and maybe his body was energized for days or even longer. The circuit breaker may have never tripped because the current flow was low, maybe only an amp or so. It sounds like quite a moist environment with the moldy drywall. He wouldn't even have had used the saw, just plug in it. That age house would not have GFI protection and lots of old wiring is not up to code and/or even wired wrong.

True, but why wouldn't the burn marks be on his chest? They were on his neck and upper back. No one plugs an electrical tool/appliance in behind their back. I can't make sense of that. Anyone?

 

[charminglane]

Was the saw still plugged in when found?

 

[Knox]

The ME needs to get on the stick, doesn’t he/she know WS’ers need answers?

 

[Angelcat13]

It's possible he was electrocuted and maybe his body was energized for days or even longer. The circuit breaker may have never tripped because the current flow was low, maybe only an amp or so. It sounds like quite a moist environment with the moldy drywall. He wouldn't even have had used the saw, just plug in it. That age house would not have GFI protection and lots of old wiring is not up to code and/or even wired wrong.

I am assuming that this would have been an electrical fire. Electrical fires have a VERY distinct smell. I can’t imagine living in a home where there was a current or very recent electrical fire and not thoroughly investigating the source of the smell since it could result in a full-blown fire that could end up being fatal.

 

[Gemmie]

I am assuming that this would have been an electrical fire. Electrical fires have a VERY distinct smell. I can’t imagine living in a home where there was a current or very recent electrical fire and not thoroughly investigating the source of the smell since it could result in a full-blown fire that could end up being fatal.

I'm going to add to this. Yes, electrical fires have a very distinct smell, as do decomposing bodies, yet it appears that she didn't explore the source of that smell either.

JMO

 

[MysteryRoad]

I think the wife killed him and tried to dismember his remains(But could not go thru with it). Her story is not the least bit credible and Occam's razor leads back to her being responsible.

 

[fsngruv]

True, but why wouldn't the burn marks be on his chest? They were on his neck and upper back. No one plugs an electrical tool/appliance in behind their back. I can't make sense of that. Anyone?

From a Wikipedia page, definitely not a source for a peer review but a source.

"As the body comes into contact with an electrical source, it becomes part of the electrical circuit. As such, the current has a point of entry and an exit at two different points on the body. The point of entry tends to be depressed and leathery whereas the exit wound is typically more extensive and explosive"

Electrical burn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Perhaps the burn on the neck is an exit wound?

 

[KSwizzle]

What did she do with his belongings? Did he have a car and if so did it just sit in the garage/driveway/in the street? Who paid the bills? Did he work and if so they would note his absence? Did he have family and or friends and did they ask about him to her?

It’s almost comical the amount of questions that would all lead her to report him missing and not at the very least look around the house, MOO she knew he was dead way before the bike incident

 

[Gemmie]

From a Wikipedia page, definitely not a source for a peer review but a source.

"As the body comes into contact with an electrical source, it becomes part of the electrical circuit. As such, the current has a point of entry and an exit at two different points on the body. The point of entry tends to be depressed and leathery whereas the exit wound is typically more extensive and explosive"

Electrical burn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Perhaps the burn on the neck is an exit wound?

Very interesting about entry and exit wounds.

If the burn mark was on his neck, where would the entry point be? While I am not an expert on the subject (Far from it! LOL) I'd think with a tool it would be your hand. Then it went up through his body and exited his neck and upper back? I can't see a small tool like that being able to do that kind of damage. Grabbing a high voltage wire, yes, but a tool? I don't think so. Or at least I hope they can't!

I'm thinking it was a small hand buzz saw vs one of those larger ones due to it being in the basement. Usually those things are in a garage or outbuilding. If it was a small hand saw I'm wondering if there was an accelerant on it, and if his heck has a cut mark. That's where my mind is going in this strange case.

 

[CityKid]

I would think if he was a no show for more than three days, it’s considered job abandonment. WM prefers to pay wages via direct deposit. So that would account for payment of his final paycheck. But I’m sure he was getting other mail regarding his termination.

But she’s already stated her thought was he left her. So none of that would have been alarming to her evidently.

I’ve pivoted on my earlier opinion regarding this case after reading some additional material. No way that smell wouldn’t have wafted upstairs. Unless she has a medical condition affecting her olfactory senses, there is no way a putrifying body smells like mold, IMO.

BBM. Same, IMO. It's stranger that she'd mistake it for mold than if she claimed not to have smelled it at all.

 

[ClearAhead]

It was a week ago when the body was recovered and autopsy requested. Surely that’s enough time for it to be completed? If he died from natural causes would there be a press release? I notice this often occurs only when there is a criminal element involved.

JMO unless the cause of death was homicide and she’s implicated in causing it, I think we’ll be left with a whole lot of unanswered questions.

Failure to report or search for another person who goes missing is not a crime that I’m aware of. While it might be a moral obligation, does anyone know if it’s a legal responsibility anywhere? Just because she didn’t report him missing or chose to ignore the smell of a decaying body for whatever reason doesn’t necessarily prove she was responsible for his death. We really don’t know anything about their relationship but I can imagine circumstances where she could’ve been very relieved in wanting to believe he had left.
JMO

 

[iamshadow21]

From a Wikipedia page, definitely not a source for a peer review but a source.

"As the body comes into contact with an electrical source, it becomes part of the electrical circuit. As such, the current has a point of entry and an exit at two different points on the body. The point of entry tends to be depressed and leathery whereas the exit wound is typically more extensive and explosive"

Electrical burn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Perhaps the burn on the neck is an exit wound?

Burns from electricity are where the electricity enters and leaves the body. The neck would be a highly unusual point. If it entered in a person's hand, where they were touching the tool, it likely exited from a foot if they were standing. Electricity always wants to ground.

MOO

 

[keek]

Burns from electricity are where the electricity enters and leaves the body. The neck would be a highly unusual point. If it entered in a person's hand, where they were touching the tool, it likely exited from a foot if they were standing. Electricity always wants to ground.

MOO

EXACTLY. Enter and exit. It will be very interesting to see the diagnosis of coroner and hopefully we see the event explained. He also could of been holding the saw up by his chest while plugging in. It was a circular saw. He MAY of been planning to use on the wall, hence, up at chest level maybe.

 

[Gemmie]

EXACTLY. Enter and exit. It will be very interesting to see the diagnosis of coroner and hopefully we see the event explained. He also could of been holding the saw up by his chest while plugging in. It was a circular saw. He MAY of been planning to use on the wall, hence, up at chest level maybe.

There could also be a reason his neck and upper back, and the buzz saw were burned, that has nothing to do with electrocution. Like... an accelerant on those 2 items put there by someone.

 

[Angelcat13]

Burns from electricity are where the electricity enters and leaves the body. The neck would be a highly unusual point. If it entered in a person's hand, where they were touching the tool, it likely exited from a foot if they were standing. Electricity always wants to ground.

MOO

I took care of a patient that had been holding an umbrella when it was struck by lightning. You could see where the electrical current entered his hand that held the umbrella, travelled up his arm, across his chest and then blew out his big toe. He suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed onto the umbrella which had burst into flames. Fortunately a nurse witnessed the incident and immediately started CPR and he survived.