This is a true story, it just came out in our local paper this morning. Did nobody ever ask where he went, or look around at all?
UPDATED: Woman stored husband in freezer until her death, investigators learn (1:06 p.m.)
By Matlin Smith
Current-Argus Staff Writer
Posted: 01/26/2011 02:01:06 PM MST
CARLSBAD — Investigators with the Eddy County Sheriff's Office have released bizarre details in the case of the human body found Monday evening in the freezer of a home south of town.
According to information from Capt. Jeff Zuniga, at 7:50 p.m. Monday, the body of a human male was discovered in a chest-type freezer at a residence on the 1200 block of Haston Road by two local residents who were cleaning out the home of a deceased relative.
The pair loaded the freezer into the back of a pickup truck and transported it to the Carlsbad Police Department. After determining that the incident occurred in the county, the CPD turned the investigation over to the ECSO.
"The body located within the freezer may be that of James Sharpe of Carlsbad, who has been unaccounted for since 1997," said Zuniga.
James Sharpe was known to be the husband to the late Barbara Sharpe, who passed away in November 2010 of health complications at the age of 63.
Information gathered during the investigation leans towards the possibility that James Sharpe may have dued due to a terminal health condition in 1997; he would have been in his early 70s then, said investigators.
"Barbara had mentioned to a health care worker prior to her death that she had stored her late husband in a freezer. The health care worker dismissed the statement due to Barbara Sharpe's grave condition," Zuniga stated.
Additionally, documentation allegedly drafted by Barbara Sharpe was found in her personal
property explaining why her husband was in the freezer.
This documentation reportedly indicated that she was remorseful, but couldn't afford to survive without his retirement income.
Prior to discovery, the freezer reportedly was in Barbara Sharpe's bedroom on Haston Road.
"The ECSO Special Investigations Unit will continue to work closely with the Office of the Medical Investigator to confirm the official identity of the decedent as well as the cause and manner of death," said Zuniga.