In our business, the true details of a crime scene cleanup job don’t always match what is initially reported to us. The person making the call may be hysterical, grief-stricken, embarrassed, or misinformed about the crime scene. This often times results in the client giving us details that range from incomplete to completely inaccurate. What our team members face when they enter that scene can be light years away from the description that was disclosed during the initial phone call. This can mean the difference between a professional, safe death cleanup and a dangerous, botched trauma scene if you are unprepared and don’t have the right tools for the job. That’s why ABT technicians are trained to only use the details they receive as a preparation guide while keeping an open mind before arriving at a job site. Our techs must be prepared for the most bizarre and unforeseeable circumstances at all times.
Things Aren’t Always What They Seem: The Devil in the Details
There have been many cases where we’ve witnessed what was originally reported as an accidental death scenario, evolve into a crime scene cleanup job. Last year, we received a call to do a routine blood cleanup at an upscale Los Angeles, California home. Upon arrival, the ABT techs immediately realized that the client communicated inaccurate details. At the time of the original call, the client relayed sketchy details about an accident in the master bedroom in which her 39-year-old husband fell from a ladder and instinctively grabbed the ceiling fan. According to her, his weight ripped the fan out the ceiling and sent them both plummeting to the floor where he died from massive blood loss after cracking his head open on the bedroom floor.
We knew something was awry even before the end of that initial call, during which we offered to assist the deceased man’s wife in filing a claim with her homeowner’s insurance company. She told us very bluntly that she didn’t have homeowner’s insurance and that it wouldn’t be necessary to file a claim. A quick online search, however, revealed the high value of this upscale Los Angeles home and its recent purchase date, which told us that no insurance was highly unlikely, if not impossible, as mortgage companies require homeowner’s insurance before sale. Even if there was no mortgage, no one in their right mind would leave a home of this value uninsured. When we suggested that perhaps in the turmoil of this devastating loss she might be mistaken and offered to help her by contacting her mortgage company for the policy details, she cut us off, vehemently insisting that she would pay for our crime scene cleanup services herself. Perplexed, we didn’t push her further and dispatched our team to her home with the details she had given us.
Crime Scene Cleaners on Location: Uncovering the Ugly Truth
When our team arrived a short while later expecting an accidental death cleanup, we got a rather flustered call from the foreman. “What exactly did you say happened here?” our foreman asked. She was clearly confused and alarmed. We repeated the details the client had given us: there had been an accident in the master bedroom involving a ceiling fan and a fall from a ladder, and there was quite a bit of blood on the carpet. “Well,” our foreman said, “what I’m looking at does not match up with that description. The walls are covered in blood spatter and brain tissue– I mean every wall in the room. A big chunk of a human scalp is lying on the bed, which is also soaked in blood and will have to be contained and removed. Bloody pieces of hair are all over the furniture and carpet. It looks like an axe murder happened in here, not a fall from a ladder. And the floor that’s covered in blood? Well, it’s actually a very plush carpet that’s soaked in blood. Hard to imagine how someone falling from a ladder would crack his head open on it. Plus, there’s no ladder in here. There’s a ceiling fan, all right, but its right where it should be. Mounted on the ceiling. And this didn’t happen recently. The blood is completely dried and congealed. There is a distinctive odor of decomposition. I’d estimate this happened weeks ago.”
We then informed the foreman to hold off on the, now apparent, crime scene cleanup, in order to give us time to do some research. A quick internet search revealed the grisly truth. The deceased man was bludgeoned to death in the bedroom, and his wife was charged with the murder and out on bail. We immediately called our foreman and told her to stand by with the crime scene cleaners until we could make absolutely sure the scene had been released by law enforcement. A call to the local police department confirmed that the crime scene was indeed released and we were cleared to do the cleanup and decontamination.
Trust Advanced Bio Treatment for Your Crime Scene Cleanup
We are Advanced Bio Treatment. We come prepared and ready to remediate any circumstance, including accidental death and crime scene cleanup, no matter how unusual or unfathomable. If you find yourself facing the cleanup of an environment that contains biological tissue, blood, or other bodily fluids, call Advanced Bio Treatment at 800-295-1684. We offer free quotes, provide emergency services, work with your insurance company, and respond quickly– 24/7/365.
