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

[cenazoic]

Just as an alternate thought re: laundry, a lot of people, as they start getting older, do things like install the washer and dryer on the main floor (if they had previously been in the basement) due to stairs becoming harder to navigate, especially with a laundry basket etc.

Even without current mobility issues (I don’t think we know this?), she’s of an age where you probably start considering future physical difficulties and planning around them.

 

[Jo in Calif]

A week before the discovery, the woman began smelling what she thought was mold growth in the basement and deep cleaned her house, but the smell persisted. On the day of the call, she had attempted to put a mountain bike in the basement, but it had fallen down the stairs, leading her to go downstairs and find her husband’s body.

The police report described the man as shirtless, wearing jean shorts, boxers and grey Crocs and laying face down on the ground while being “well into the decomposition stage.”


The woman has not been charged with any crimes and the police report did not say that she was under investigation. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death.

Woman finds body of husband in basement

Athens-Clarke County Police Department officers responded to a call of a woman who found her husband’s body dead in the couple’s basement on Wednesday, April 9. She told officers that

www.redandblack.com

 

[CuriousCricket]

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

It has just occurred to me - don't some people lose their sense of smell with covid?

 

[Gemmie]

It has just occurred to me - don't some people lose their sense of smell with covid?

Yes, but I can only imagine that the stank of dead body, rotting for a month, would revive it! JMO!

 

[Gemmie]

Something I've been wondering is what LE thought when they entered the house. I'm sure the stench smacked them in the face before they even entered. They had to wonder how/why someone could live with a dead body in the basement, where the laundry room was, and NOT know he was down there. I know if I was LE I've be hella suspicious of that fact. Like... both eyebrows would shoot straight up, ruining my poker face.

 

[Bounceycat]

No foul play suspected, but no cause identified in case of man who died in home basement

The family of an Athens man found dead after a month in the basement of his home has set up a 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 page to help with his funeral.

www.yahoo.com

Investigation is ongoing but foul play not suspected. Autopsy results are still pending, no COD yet.

More info about Frank from his sister in the article, but I did note this:

"But he also had health problems as an adult with back and sciatic nerve pain, she said. He had quit one job due to the pain, but recently had accepted a new job at a Taco Bell."

So if he was no longer at WM and had just started at Taco Bell, it makes sense they would just assume job abondonment and not put a lot of time into trying to reach him.

 

[Gemmie]

No foul play suspected, but no cause identified in case of man who died in home basement

The family of an Athens man found dead after a month in the basement of his home has set up a 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 page to help with his funeral.

www.yahoo.com

Investigation is ongoing but foul play not suspected. Autopsy results are still pending, no COD yet.

More info about Frank from his sister in the article, but I did note this:

"But he also had health problems as an adult with back and sciatic nerve pain, she said. He had quit one job due to the pain, but recently had accepted a new job at a Taco Bell."

So if he was no longer at WM and had just started at Taco Bell, it makes sense they would just assume job abondonment and not put a lot of time into trying to reach him.

Color me skeptical that there is no foul play suspected. JMO!

And from your article:

Sanders said police have not shared how they think he came to his death, but officers told the family they are awaiting the autopsy. The body has not been released

No foul play suspected, but no cause identified in case of man who died in home basement

The family of an Athens man found dead after a month in the basement of his home has set up a 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 page to help with his funeral.

www.yahoo.com

Sounds like they have a suspicion of what happened. And I had a feeling from the get-go that they weren't married.

 

[fsngruv]

No foul play suspected, but no cause identified in case of man who died in home basement

The family of an Athens man found dead after a month in the basement of his home has set up a 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 page to help with his funeral.

www.yahoo.com

Investigation is ongoing but foul play not suspected. Autopsy results are still pending, no COD yet.

More info about Frank from his sister in the article, but I did note this:

"But he also had health problems as an adult with back and sciatic nerve pain, she said. He had quit one job due to the pain, but recently had accepted a new job at a Taco Bell."

So if he was no longer at WM and had just started at Taco Bell, it makes sense they would just assume job abondonment and not put a lot of time into trying to reach him.

There is a taco bell close by his home, wonder if he worked there?

 

[Chimera]

Yes, but I can only imagine that the stank of dead body, rotting for a month, would revive it! JMO!

Something I've been wondering is what LE thought when they entered the house. I'm sure the stench smacked them in the face before they even entered. They had to wonder how/why someone could live with a dead body in the basement, where the laundry room was, and NOT know he was down there. I know if I was LE I've be hella suspicious of that fact. Like... both eyebrows would shoot straight up, ruining my poker face.

Bbm.
Re. the bolded : Sooo, she didn't do laundry for a month ?
Or she went to the laundromat ?
This makes zero sense.
Omo.

You weren't prolly trying to be funny.... but both of your comments gave me a bit of a chuckle !

 

[JDG]

It has just occurred to me - don't some people lose their sense of smell with covid?

It can also diminish with age. I realize she wasn’t really elderly but other medical issues can wipe out the sense of smell. I had a relative who lost her sense of smell for a few years, it was not really safe for her to cook as she couldn’t smell the gas stove or burning food.

 

[Hexe]

It can also diminish with age.

The problem here is that the woman in question smelled an unpleasant odour in the house, a week before discovering the body, so she can smell.

That creates multiple problems with her story, at least for me.

- she thought that unpleasant smell was a mold growth in the basement, so she deep cleaned her house... With exception of the basement. I mean, like, if you suspect you have mold growing somewhere, that spot gonna be on top of "the places to clean" list.

- the smell of decomp does not resemble the stench of mold. At all.

- if she indeed can smell, even a little bit, then the smell of decomposition should have hit her like shovel in the face first moment she opened the basement door. I mean a dead mouse can stink up whole house, so the stench generated by decomposing body of a grown up man should be incredibly strong, even for someone with dulled sense of smell. Yet there is no mention of any odours in her story of discovering the body.

Last but not least, she was avoiding the basement so much, she did not go there even to clean the mold, yet suddenly she decided to drag her bike down these clunky, broken stairs, because...? Why exactly?

 

[Gemmie]

the smell of decomposition should have hit her like shovel in the face first moment she opened the basement door.

Last but not least, she was avoiding the basement so much, she did not go there even to clean the mold, yet suddenly she decided to drag her bike down these clunky, broken stairs, because...? Why exactly?

SBMMF

Absolutely! And even more puzzling to me, is the fact that after she got smacked in the face with a stench shovel, she wants people to think she was still oblivious that a dead body was down there and proceeded to struggle with the bike on the stairs? And it was only AFTER she went to the bottom once the bike fell to the bottom and she turned around... THAT'S when she realized a dead body was down there?

Nah. I ain't fallin' for it. And I know LE isn't either cuz her story stinks to high heavens IMO.

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

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

 

[tlcya]

well so far, Her story continues to not pass the smell test for me.

 

[Kitsey]

Maybe she's a hoarder or has a ton of cats or something so the house already smelled terrible

 

[ClearAhead]

The problem here is that the woman in question smelled an unpleasant odour in the house, a week before discovering the body, so she can smell.

That creates multiple problems with her story, at least for me.

- she thought that unpleasant smell was a mold growth in the basement, so she deep cleaned her house... With exception of the basement. I mean, like, if you suspect you have mold growing somewhere, that spot gonna be on top of "the places to clean" list.

- the smell of decomp does not resemble the stench of mold. At all.

- if she indeed can smell, even a little bit, then the smell of decomposition should have hit her like shovel in the face first moment she opened the basement door. I mean a dead mouse can stink up whole house, so the stench generated by decomposing body of a grown up man should be incredibly strong, even for someone with dulled sense of smell. Yet there is no mention of any odours in her story of discovering the body.

Last but not least, she was avoiding the basement so much, she did not go there even to clean the mold, yet suddenly she decided to drag her bike down these clunky, broken stairs, because...? Why exactly?

I wonder if she suffered from untreated mental illness? Surely she could’ve concocted a story that was a tad more convincing if her motive was to lie? ie there’d been problems with rodents nesting in her basement and she’d been saving money to hire professional pest control services.

LE say foul play is NOT suspected, foul smell or not. If there was suspicion typically they’d state the investigation is ongoing and foul play hasn’t been ruled out especially as the autopsy is still pending.
JMO

BBM

Probe continues in death of Athens man found dead in home basement

The family of an Athens man found dead after a month in the basement of his home has set up a 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 page to help with his funeral.

www.onlineathens.com

The death investigation revolves around Frank Perry Williams, 44, whose body was found in a Lavender Road home on April 9 by his girlfriend, who also lived in the house. The investigation is continuing, but no foul play is suspected, police Lt. Katie Jenkins said Monday. Results of the autopsy are still pending, she said.

 

[Angelcat13]

The problem here is that the woman in question smelled an unpleasant odour in the house, a week before discovering the body, so she can smell.

That creates multiple problems with her story, at least for me.

- she thought that unpleasant smell was a mold growth in the basement, so she deep cleaned her house... With exception of the basement. I mean, like, if you suspect you have mold growing somewhere, that spot gonna be on top of "the places to clean" list.

- the smell of decomp does not resemble the stench of mold. At all.

- if she indeed can smell, even a little bit, then the smell of decomposition should have hit her like shovel in the face first moment she opened the basement door. I mean a dead mouse can stink up whole house, so the stench generated by decomposing body of a grown up man should be incredibly strong, even for someone with dulled sense of smell. Yet there is no mention of any odours in her story of discovering the body.

Last but not least, she was avoiding the basement so much, she did not go there even to clean the mold, yet suddenly she decided to drag her bike down these clunky, broken stairs, because...? Why exactly?

Excellent pick-up in an earlier story that confirms she did have the ability to smell! And yes, the smell of decomposition is extremely strong and distinct and would not be confused with mold - at least by most people IMO.

This made me think back to a previous experience I had where an older man called police and wanted them to come talk to his wife because he was mad/upset that she wasn't eating the meals he was preparing for her. The smell of decomposition was noticeable as soon as you got out of your vehicle at the property. (I've always wondered what the neighbors must have thought!) Upon entering the house police discovered the woman very obviously deceased (turned out she died from natural causes) sitting in a living room chair with a TV tray in front of her with almost a week of untouched meals piled high. Not to be too graphic, but it was hard to believe that the husband didn't realize she was deceased given the smell and the insect activity. I don't remember how old the husband was or what his medical and/or mental history may have been, but there was significant alcohol use which I'm sure contributed to the situation.

A year later we were back at the house for a minor injury and you could still smell the odor as you approached the home. It certainly didn't help that the chair (with the new girlfriend sitting in it!) was still in the living room! I swear that you can't make this stuff up!

My point to this is that I have to wonder if there were medical and/or mental health issues and/or substance abuse that may have affected the wife in this thread from noticing/comprehending what was going on in the basement.

And something else I thought of since we (me included) have been commenting on the fact that the body was found in the laundry room and how did she not do laundry for a month? Someone earlier in this thread brought up an excellent point that the washer & dryer may have been moved to the main level. It could also be that the washer and/or dryer no longer worked so she may have been hand-washing some items and/or using a laundromat. That still doesn't explain not noticing/reporting him missing or investigating the smell, but some of these things combined could explain it, even though most of us would have a hard time understanding how this could be.