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

[borndem]

Hmmm, husband goes missing but she didn’t look around the house, including the basement early on? Just thought he’d left but without checking if he’s still in the house? Totally suspicious.

 

[Chimera]

my bold

How about his clothes? Still in the closet and drawers? Did she throw them away?

Good point !
Hmmm........

 

[borndem]

And he took no clothes? Or did she get rid of them -- if so where?
SMH.
'‘Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive..."
(The quote is from Scott’s epic poem, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field.)

 

[Megnut]

Is this an extreme hoarding situation? Where there are mental health issues that might account for low concern, limited mobility, hygiene deficiencies? So no foul play, no intentional failure to report... perhaps a very sad story all around? If there is, say, rotting food, maybe a case of serious nose blindness?

jmo

 

[realanastasia]

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

Wonder if the bike belonged to him or her, and if—purely hypothetically—it WAS his, then she might’ve wanted to bring it in from outside so neighbors wouldn’t notice that it’d been out of use for a considerable time and potentially ask her why. I could see that bike also having been his main mode of transportation to/from work if, hypothetically, he didn’t have a vehicle and/or was legally prohibited from driving.

In that scenario, I could also imagine the bike’s “accidental” fall down the stairs having actually resulted from an intentional annoyed shove of one of his cumbersome possessions through the basement door. If I presumed a cheating partner had just up and left me, without bothering to even tell me, I would probably be none too careful with their left-behind things!

That said, I am actually leaning towards the theory of accidental electrocution. Taking an electric saw to drywall without knowing, for certain, what kinds of wires, cords, and cables are behind it (AND without first switching off the breakers of any nearby major appliances that might use 220 volts rather than 110 volts, as things like electric ranges, ovens, and clothing washers and dryers often do) is, IMO, absurdly dangerous to the same degree as Russian roulette.

 

[Gemmie]

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

• Frank’s skin looked burnt around his neck and upper back
• The buzz saw next to him was blackened by what looked to be a fire

SBMFF

I just thought of something... Let's say Frank was using the buzzsaw and it caught fire somehow. Unless he uses a buzzsaw behind his back, he'd have burn marks to his neck and chest, not to his upper back. Which really raises my hinky meter a notch or two (and it was already high).

 

[vls12345]

I agree with previous posts about possible issues of depression (likely undiagnosed, imo), possible hoarding, possibly toxic relationship dynamics. Unfortunately (through extended family) I know that someone walking out can and will leave with literally the clothes on their back and nothing else in their rush to their "grass is greener" relationship. It doesn't mean the person is dead, it just means they are in a rush to adopt a new life. (Which probably won't work out for them anyway because they tend to continue the toxic relationship dynamics). Anyway, yes, that includes leaving their stuff (and often various people in their life -- not just their SO but kids, parents, friends, etc.) behind. Tbh, I don't think it's really unusual.

So, I think there is a good possibility his death was some kind of weird freak accident, she was probably mad/depressed and also slightly ok/relieved that he left. And time moved forward until she found him and called 911.

I will be curious to hear the autopsy report but I am guessing it will be related to electrocution.

Jmo (at this juncture) but subject to change if additional information becomes available.

 

[realanastasia]

I have not (and do not plan to!) tried to confirm this myself, but I suspect that if you are gripping a metal-bladed power tool that comes into contact with (cuts into) a live 220 line, especially if you are standing in a damp or wet location (which a basement that has a “mold problem” almost certainly IS), after you were electrocuted, your hands might drop the tool on the ground and then your body might crumple atop it,
maybe singeing the skin that came into contact with the (probably very hot) blade.

 

[Knox]

SBMFF

I just thought of something... Let's say Frank was using the buzzsaw and it caught fire somehow. Unless he uses a buzzsaw behind his back, he'd have burn marks to his neck and chest, not to his upper back. Which really raises my hinky meter a notch or two (and it was already high).

The ME ruling can't come back fast enough! I've been noodling that around as well. Only thing I could come up with was he was wearing something flammable.

 

[borndem]

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.

my bold
Totally agree -- a couple of days with no smell, okay, I'll buy that. But after a week, IMO, at least something would be noticed. And a month...
But as has already been said, it could be that she cannot notice odors very well. SMH.
Hoping we will be able to find out at least a bit, and hopefully more, about COD.

 

[Lucy6226]

The hoarding suggestions are interesting. I think I remember a case in the UK where a family member was found deceased under a mountain of hoarded items. The alive family member had thought the deceased person had left the house and never returned. So could be possible in this case or explain why she didn't notice the smell.

Another thought I had about the burns to the back was if he was using a ladder at the time and the buzz saw fell onto his back when he landed.

My hinky meter is still running high with this one at the moment though.

Moo

 

[Mandala]

Maybe they fought in the past and his MO was to leave for hours or days.

Maybe she told him to go away and thought he did.

If she thought he had left, why would she go search the basement for him? It's not like when a child is missing and there is a need to search everywhere in case the child is hiding and/or got stuck. If she thought he left of his own free will, why would she search the house?

It’s such an odd scenario.

Separately, if there was an electrical short or fire, did that not cause a power outage for at least part of the house? Did she need to flip the breaker? Where is the breaker box?

Imo.

We don’t know that she asked him to leave or not. My comment was based on the assumption that she didn’t.

 

[Ruby_PA]

I wonder how much the advanced decomp effected his skin tone and make it look like it was burned?
Were his clothes singed or just darkened by rotting fluids?
I'm sure the first responders can tell the difference, but I just cannot figure out how his back got burned. So weird.
I knew someone who was born without a sense of smell, but it was the only person I have ever met in my entire life with no sense of smell, so it is not common and very unlikely here.
If they had separate bedrooms this could account for her not noticing his missing clothes, but he must have had a car as others have mentioned.
So many weird things that do not add up & I keep trying to make it make sense in my head.

 

[Angelcat13]

That part didn't sound suspicious to me, because I think it was her reply to a question the cops asked her.

But a lot of other things about this DO sound suspicious to me!

Like she just assumed he walked out on her... Literally walked out? On foot??

Assuming he had a vehicle... did she not think it was odd that he left it behind? And if he didn't (unusual, but not unheard of), so she thought he just walked off into the night on foot. Taking none of his belongings.

What about his phone? Didn't he have a phone? Had she been trying to call it?

Is he estranged from his own family? How old is this couple anyway?

But also just to note... I go for a month without doing any laundry all the time. And who thinks 30+ pairs of underwear is a lot??? Hmph!

I wish - but can’t imagine - that I could go a month without doing laundry! If I’m lucky I might skip a day or two.

 

[ClearAhead]

We don’t know that she asked him to leave or not. My comment was based on the assumption that she didn’t.

It doesn’t seem like a respectful and loving relationship existed between the two. Combined with possible infidelity issues, perhaps the wife just hoped he’d moved on to the next and chose to ignore any indications pointing to the contrary? On occasion ‘wilful ignorance’ can serve to preserve mental well-being.
JMO

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

“The woman said when she woke up the next day she noticed Williams wasn’t home, and that it wasn’t unusual for him to leave in the middle of the night and stay gone for several days.

“As the days went on, Joylynn assumed Frank had left her for good and proceeded with her days,” Sullivan reported.”

 

[Wallendo]

I can think of a number of cases where a corpse was present in a house and no-one seemed to notice.

The story doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I suspect we have received an abridged version with lots of details left out.

 

[borndem]

Agree, Wallendo -- hoping the press, etc., will keep us informed as they can.
IMO, this is a bit of an odd one...
A dead body in a laundry room for a month, and another person in the same house with no idea about his whereabouts during that time? SMH.
<modsnip>

 

[tlcya]

from the minimal info we've been given this case sure seems suspicious to me. Hoping future updates will clear some things up because as it stands right now, I am not buying the story we've heard thus far

 

[sunspun]

From the article posted above:

“The woman said when she woke up the next day she noticed Williams wasn’t home, and that it wasn’t unusual for him to leave in the middle of the night and stay gone for several days."

??????????

So knowing what we know now about where he was found and the tools etc nearby, this would mean that he had actually gone down into that basement in the middle of the night to... do a little drywall buzzsawing? After an evening of... "decent" conversation and being accused of cheating by his wife?

All after she had gone to bed.

But she never heard him go down there and somehow was unaware anyone was working in her basement with a buzzsaw (!) and possibly being fatally electrocuted (!) all while she was in bed upstairs. I wonder if she is hard of hearing (along with diminished sense of smell?)

Do we know how rural or urban their area is? If someone left on foot from her house, are there places within walking distance or no? Maybe she thought his mistress came to pick him up...

Speaking of which, or whom... I wonder if he really was seeing someone else on the side, and if so, wouldn't LE normally think it necessary to talk to them also? If there was someone else, maybe she doesn't even know what happened yet. If she exists, she must have been confused when he suddenly dropped out of contact with her. But it's not like she would go to his wife's house to find out what was up. I'm thinking this man may not have had his own cell phone. Or vehicle???

 

[Gemmie]

Do we know how rural or urban their area is? If someone left on foot from her house, are there places within walking distance or no? Maybe she thought his mistress came to pick him up...

Red marks the spot.

Here's the map so you can "drive" around and see what all is there: 181 Lavender Rd · 181 Lavender Rd, Athens, GA 30606

Speaking of which, or whom... I wonder if he really was seeing someone else on the side, and if so, wouldn't LE normally think it necessary to talk to them also?

I wouldn't doubt if he was. And yes, I would think LE would have talked to her if they knew who she was. Leave no stone unturned!

If there was someone else, maybe she doesn't even know what happened yet.

She's got to know now with it plastered all over the news! JMO!