The night we got the call into our Atlanta office, it was particularly dark and gloomy.
A strong storm front had been pushing its way into the area all day, and thick, swirling gray clouds blotted out the light from the moon and stars, casting the nighttime landscape in deep, dense shadows.
The caller hadn’t given us much information, just a very matter of fact statement, “There’s lots of blood”. So, we had packed up our gear and headed to the address listed on the work order which was located in an older neighborhood on the eastern side of the city.
The late hour and the rain slick roads, covered with wind blown debris, saw that the roads and communities we passed along were all but deserted. In this rural part of town, the darkness of the night was broken only by a sudden bolt of lightning or an occasional set of headlights cruising past us, and the street lamps, when there were any, were so ineffective that they could barely illuminated the street signs which were nearly obscured by thrashing branches and patches of heavy fog.
The home we eventually pulled up in front of was completely dark, and at first, I thought that we had been the victims of a prank or perhaps we had gotten the address incorrect.
As we sat in the long, meticulously pavered driveway, searching for the client’s number, a car that had been sitting against the side of the garage in the dark, suddenly flashed its lights at us. Then, the driver’s side door opened and I could just barely make out the form of a tall, thin man, whose face was still hidden in shadow.
Now, I’m not a man that gets freaked out easily, obviously I’ve seen a lot of things over the years, but I’m not ashamed to say that in that instance, I certainly felt a moment of trepidation. This was not generally how we meet with our callers, but I gathered my courage and stepped out to introduce myself.
The man, likely in his mid forties, was an odd one to say the least.
He reminded me in a way of Lurch, from the old Addam’s Family T.V. show. He was very tall, around 6’5 or more, but he was also very gaunt and his dark clothes, like the pale skin of his face, hung loosely on his body. His look was completed by a shiny bald pate on top, below which grew thin, brown hair that had been left in long, greasy waves down to his shoulders.
As I began my usual explanation as to our cleaning processes, he turned away without a word and motioned for us to follow him. Hesitantly, after a brief exchange of nervous glances with my field technician, we complied and walked behind him to the back porch of the still totally blacked out home.
Still not quite sure what we were getting ourselves into, we followed him into the house, standing awkwardly in the pitch dark as we waited for the man to switch on the light as promised. Once he did, I was immediately regretful.
There, in the living room of this 70 year old home, from one side of the once beautiful wood floors top the other, blood and mangled flesh was all over. I was not sure what I was looking at, to be honest, and the lack of any police or emotion, coming from the homeowner was really leaving me feeling very unsure of the situation.
Carefully, I made mental notes of the exits, possible weapons I could protect myself with and of the ‘crime’ scene itself, in case I needed to describe it to the authorities later.
Just as I began to excuse myself and my crew, on the premise of retrieving equipment from the van, the man moved between us and the open, sliding glass door. Bending down, he started to reach for something behind a cabinet, and the tension in the room exploded.
The technician I was with, performed a football style maneuver, and juked his way out through the door, leaving me to watch in horror as the man pulled out… a raccoon tail?
“My dogs really made short work of the poor things. Came home from the graveyard shift to find this mess. The critters must’ve come down the chimney, and straight into the jaws of Hell.”
It was then that he indicated a small room adjacent to the space we were in, from which there sat three very guilty looking bulldogs staring back at us through the panes of a glass paneled door. Immediately, relief washed over me like a tidal wave and I began to laugh. The man looked at me perplexed for a moment, before he assessed the situation himself, and then began to chuckle too.
After we had a little fun at my technician’s expense, he did leave me after all, we explained the situation and got started in earnest.
Not every job we get called out to at ABT involves the death of a human, sometimes we get called to handle the mess left behind by pets and other, less domesticated animals. In this case, it was a family of racoons which had made a home in the smoke stack of this home’s chimney.
Aside from their tragic end at the business end of the resident canines, these types of pests can also spread disease through their saliva, urine, feces and of course, blood. These bodily fluids can contain hundreds of potentially harmful pathogens which can pose a significant risk to human health.
We use only hospital grade cleaners, certified by the EPA and adhere to strict OSHA standards, so we can guarantee that not only will we restore your property to a brilliant condition, but we will also restore your peace of mind.
All told, this job took only 6 hours to complete from start to finish. We began by removing all the fur and remaining flesh, carefully disposing of the potentially dangerous waste, before we moved on to soaking up and meticulously cleaning away the blood from not only the floors but also the walls, baseboards and even the furniture. After we could no longer pick up any residual blood under our specially designed lighting, we were careful to disinfect and sanitize all surfaces in the space.
Finally, we all stood back and smiled. There was no clue that the home had been the site of a triple homicide. We still talk to Bernie about it to this day, and still have to laugh at ourselves. In this job, you just never know what you’re gonna get.
If you need scene clean-up and decontamination guidance, have questions about your payment options, which clean up and decon procedures your current insurance policy covers or require our scene cleanup services immediately, don’t hesitate to give Advanced Bio Treatment a call at:800-295-1684
