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The body of a missing mother was discovered under a hotel bed in Memphis, Tennessee, on 15 March, “after a bad odour was reported in the room”. She was last seen in the room 47 days earlier. Police said that “the room had been rented approximately five times and cleaned by the hotel staff numerous times” since Sony Millbrook was reported missing on 27 January, after failing to pick up her children from school. Her family said they had checked the hotel where she had been living and had failed to find her. Her boyfriend, LaKeith Moody, was subsequently arrested on a gun violation charge and remained “a person of interest in this case”, according to the police. (Sydney) D.Telegraph, 19 Mar 2010.

In The Baby Train (1993), folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand wrote that he first heard the “dead body found under hotel bed” legend in April 1991. Every version that came to him mentioned a Las Vegas hotel, but the lack of checkable details led him to believe this was an apocryphal tale. For once, it appears, “Mr Urban Legend” (as the Smithsonian has called him) is mistaken. Below are nine well-referenced news stories, four of which predate 1991.

On 13 July 2003, the decomposing body of a man, wearing only a nun’s wimple and fishnet stockings, was found under a bed in the Capri Motel, east of downtown Kansas City. Sgt Darin Snapp told reporters: “It seems a guest in the motel noticed a foul smell in his room, and after a day or so he complained to the staff. At first, they just told him to open a window, but the stench got worse, and he kept complaining that he could no longer tolerate the smell. Eventually, after it caused him to vomit, they agreed to send a cleaning crew to his room, and when they began moving the furniture around, that’s when they found the dead body… The Capri has been closed down several times in the past for indecency and poor hygiene, but on the other hand, it is a very competitively priced motel with many facilities, including a gym and a pool table.” So that’s alright, then. The unfortunate guest had slept over the corpse for three nights. Fredericksburg News, 14 July; Sunday Times, 24 Aug 2003.

On 10 June 1999, the rapidly decomposing remains of 64-year-old Saul Hernandez were discovered inside the bed in Room 112 at the Burgundy Motor Inn in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A German couple had spent the night sleeping over Hernandez’s remains, and it was their complaint to the manager about the smell in their room which led to the discovery of the corpse. www.snopes.com, 14 July 2003.

In July 1996, a woman’s body was found under a mattress in the Colorado Boulevard Travelodge in Pasadena, California. Staff discovered her 10 days after her demise and only after guests had complained for several days of a foul odour coming from that room. Pasadena Star News, 1 Aug 1996.

A German tourist staying in the Hotel Travelers near Miami International Airport, complained about a foul smell in his room (202) on 11 March 1994. A maid investigated and found the decomposing corpse of Josefina Martinez, 24, under the bed the tourist had been sleeping in. Detective Ralph Fernandez said foul play was suspected. [R] 14 Mar 1994.

There was another case in August that same year, also in Florida. Staff at a Fort Lauderdale hotel discovered the body of 47-year-old Bryan Gregory tucked under a platform bed. They had noticed a strange smell for days, but only set about looking for its source after a German couple spent the night in that room and afterwards complained about the odour. Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 18 Aug; [AFP] 19 Aug 1994.

In Virginia in 1989, Jerry Lee Dunbar disposed of the remains of two victims this way: 27-year-old Deirdre Smith, who was discovered in May under the floor of a motel room on Route 1, and 29-year-old Marilyn Graham, who turned up in June under a bed in the Alexandria Econo Lodge. In Smith’s case, the killer first kept her body partially hidden under his bed for two days, then subsequently placed it in the crawl space under the carpeted floor. Her presence seemingly didn’t bother him, because he didn’t move out of that room until three or four weeks later. Both girls’ bodies were eventually found after other guests complained about the stink. Washington Post, 28 Nov 1989.

In 1988, the remains of 29-year-old Mary Jean DeOliviera were found in a boxspring bed at the Oceanside Motel, Mineola, New York. The body was discovered only after patrons complained about the smell. At least two other guests unwittingly cohabited with the body before it was found, and at least one guest refused to stay in that room because of the smell. The death was ruled a misadventure. Newsday, 3 Sept 1988.

In Rosedale, Maryland, in 1987, an unidentified man died of a drug overdose after one of the 34 balloons of heroin he’d swallowed burst. His partner stashed the corpse under their motel bed, then split. Three days later, the family who rented the room complained about the odour, which led to the body’s discovery. [UPI] 4 Aug 1987.

The earliest case of smelly-body-under-bed so far unearthed is from 1982. Richard Kuklinski, Daniel Deppner, and Gary Smith often teamed up to steal cars. Kuklinski and Deppner decided to kill Smith, which they did by feeding him a cyanide-laced hamburger in a motel room in North Bergen, New Jersey. The body was found stuffed under the bed four days later, on 27 December 1982. During those four days, the room had been rented to others each night. Guests had wrinkled their noses at the smell, but none thought to look under the bed. www.snopes.com, 14 July 2003.