COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — 20 years ago Victor and Ana Murillo-Moncada came to the United States from Honduras legally with work visas. Hard work ran in their family and their youngest son, Lary, worked at the No Frills Supermarket in Council Bluffs for five years. Then tragedy struck.
Lary spent Thanksgiving with his family back in 2009 and then disappeared the next day, nearly 10 years later his body was found inside the supermarket he worked in. That No Frills location has been closed since 2016.
"For seven years that store was open and his body was suspended behind a cooler in that store," the attorney representing the family, James Martin Davis, said.
Lary's body was discovered behind a cooler. Former employees say it was common to be on top of these coolers. The autopsy report showed that it was an accidental death. No further information on the body was provided.
"That's all it said it didn't say the means or the mechanisms," Davis said.
A lot of questions remain. Through a translator, the parent's spoke about their grief and frustrations.
"Somebody should've known. Somebody should've said something," the victim's mother, Ana Moncada, said.
His distraught family had a feeling that he was somehow still in the store. They say they used to drive around there when he first went missing.
"We just had a suspicion, something was telling us that he was still there," the victim's father, Victor Murillo said.
Both Victor and Ana haven't been back to the now-closed No Frills location since their son's body was identified a few weeks ago. When the family found out that it was in fact their son who was found at the supermarket, they decided to come back to search for answers.
The family claims they reached out to No Frills and asked for help in finding their son. They say No Frills was uncooperative. They have now sought out legal help to get some answers.
"I don't think No Frills ever really gave much of a concern about what happened to him. We're not looking to a law suit. That may eventually come about and it may not, that's not their primary concern. The primary concern now is to find out about what happened," Davis said.
Ana and Victor are now asking for the public's help.
"So if those people out there that worked for No Frills have information about what the security system was, whether there were camera's involved, whether there was bullying, they can call my office and that's the first step in terms of getting the answers to the questions," Davis said.
The only that may bring closure for the family is information.
We reached out to No Frills Supermarket and their parent company but have not heard back yet. The funeral procession is scheduled for next week.
