Hoarders trapped under debris in home for weeks

No one had seen Jesse or Thelma Gaston for weeks, and now neighbours know why: the elderly Chicago couple are hoarders and they were trapped in their own home under a mountain of trash.

Jesse Gaston, 76, and his wife, Thelma, 79 were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition and possibly suffering from malnutrition, but were improving today, authorities said.

Trash was piled from the floor all the way to the ceiling at their home on the 1500 block of East 69th Street.



Chicago Fire Department paramedics conducting a well-being check Monday found the stench so overpowering they had to don hazardous materials suits to go inside the home.

“We’ve called the city about them so many times, but they’d just get a ticket, clear it up a bit and are forgotten about,’’ said neighbour Andrea Adams.

Adams said the woman first became trapped, then the man became trapped, too, as he tried to free her. The couple is in critical but stable condition.

With news video. There are more photos here.