The mystery deepens when skeletal remains have an eerie connection to a hoarder who was crushed to death by his own garbage

A MYSTERY persists after the discovery of skeletal remains revealed an eerie connection to a hoarder being crushed to death by its own garbage.

Robert Ellzey, 70, is said to have suffocated under the weight of his belongings in his unkempt and overgrown home.

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The grisly discovery was made by Parma Heights police in early March.

“Some neighbors over in Manorford let us know they haven’t seen Robert Ellzey in a few days,” said Detective Adam Sloan.

“Our patrol officers went over there and found that Mr Ellzey had died at his home.”

According to neighbors, Ellzey has become more of a shut-in due to the harsh winters in the area.

He didn’t have a car or a job, and he wasn’t visited by family or friends, making it rare for people to ever see him.

Neighbors added that while Ellzey was odd, he was harmless and only became concerned when his mail started piling up.

A social check was conducted at Ellzey’s home on March 2, and then responding officers found the man’s lifeless body surrounded and among his own belongings.

City and county officials, including the health department, fire department and city building department, arrived at the home and determined it posed a hazard due to the strict hoarding requirements.

Professional cleaning crews worked on the home for two weeks to get rid of all items, neighbors said.

Detectives and the coroner worked to determine Ellzey’s cause of death.

“It was positional asphyxia, meaning some of the stuff in his house actually trapped him there,” Sloan said.

“After speaking to some neighbors, there was some grumbling about his mother, Lois.”

DOUBLE SECRET

Lois Ellzey was born in November 1924 but not much else was known about her except that she owned the house where her son had died.

Records show that city officials took her to court over hoarding conditions at her home in the late 1980s.

But there was no death certificate or missing persons report, which begs the question: What happened to Lois Ellzey?

“Some of the neighbors mentioned that Louis might have died about 10 years ago,” Sloan said.

“We didn’t have any concrete evidence of that. No documents or anything to indicate a specific date, time or year.”

Sloan added that no missing persons reports had been filed related to Lois, prompting an investigation into her whereabouts.

“Even when we started looking for her, going through Lois’ information, nothing turned up in our databases that identified her as a missing person.

“As far as we know, none of our local agencies lacked her. [If she were reported missing, out of state [police reports] would also have shown up.”

Investigators were looking for clues about Lois, but it wasn’t on Memorial Day that another shocking discovery was made.

Brook Park police officers were called to a self-storage facility on May 30 to make a reported discovery of a body found in one of the units.

The odd unit that held the gruesome secret was hired by none other than Robert Ellzey, Sloan said.

A box in a dark corner of the unit contained the skeletal remains of a woman later identified as Lois Ellzey.

“We were told that she may have passed away in 2012. We don’t know exactly how long she’s been in the unit,” Sloan said.

“This is being investigated by the Brook Park Police Department and we support the investigation, which is ongoing.”

Where, when and how Lois died is still a mystery as the coroner has not determined the cause or manner of death.

Investigators are certain she died a decade ago, and neighbors in the area agreed.

But the discovery of Lois’ body has now prompted even more questions, with many wondering about the woman’s retirement pensions, which continued to arrive at the home.

“If Mom died, she is not listed as deceased. Why is social security still coming? Why is she still getting pension checks? That obviously got us where we are today,” Sloan said.

“It’s difficult because Robert isn’t there anymore either. It seems that Social Security and the pension funds were still coming when we found Robert.”

An investigation is still ongoing and much of it has focused on Robert, Sloan said, although detectives have ruled out nothing.

“This investigation will continue until we can reveal some information,” he said. “Just a crazy turn of events.”

No immediate family members of Robert and Lois Ellzey have been identified or located and it is believed that the two only had each other.

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