Found Deceased CO - Joshua Maddux, 18, Woodland Park, 8 May 2008

JusticeWillBeServed · Sep 30, 2015

Joshua Maddux had been missing for over seven years until remains discovered in August were a match for him. Prior to this, there wasn't much information available in his disappearance. This is from the Charley Project:

Details of Disappearance
Maddux was last seen leaving his Woodland Park, Colorado home on May 8, 2008. He has never been heard from again. Few details are available in his case.

His body was found in a chimney of a Woodland Park cabin. The owner of the cabin was in the process of tearing it down when the remains were discovered. An identification was made through dental records. The coroner reports his death as accidental; noting that there was no sign of foul play or trauma to the body. They believe that Joshua was trying to shimmy down the chimney and got stuck while doing so. No one has lived there in the past ten years, which explains why no one reported anything suspicious (such as odor) since that time. Prayers for his family and friends; a memorial service for Joshua is scheduled for October 17th.

Body found in Woodland Park cabin ID'd as teen missing since 2008

Teller County Coroner Al Born said Tuesday morning after a news conference to announce the findings that dental records were used to determine that the body was Maddux. He said there was no sign of foul play or trauma to the body.

"It appears to have been voluntary act to gain access" to the building, Born said.

According to Born, Maddux was a "tall, skinny kid" and was likely trying to shimmy down the chimney and apparently got stuck. Born said there was a wood-burning insert in the fireplace of the cabin that made it impossible to get through the chimney at the bottom.

UPDATE: Remains found in chimney identified as missing Woodland Park teen

Joshua's father, Mike Maddux, tells KRDO NewsChannel 13 that his son was a kind, intelligent and caring young man who excelled academically. He said Joshua's loss is deeply felt by the family.

His sister Ruth Maddux echoed similar thoughts, saying her brother was incredibly kind.

"Definitely one of the nicest people I have ever met, probably that I will ever meet," said Ruth Maddux.

After learning her brother's remains were found in a chimney, Ruth said she thinks her brother was looking for a place to hang out and tried to get into the empty cabin.

"I still have a lot of unanswered questions about it, it still seems very weird to us," said Ruth Maddux.

Damarna · Sep 30, 2015

RIP Joshua. My prayers to his family. I'm glad they got their answer.

becciboo81 · Sep 30, 2015

That is so sad

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trigger · Sep 30, 2015

This is so so sad but at least they finally found out what happen to him.

RIP Joshua

LavenderLotus · Sep 30, 2015

http://gazette.com/body-in-woodland-park-cabin-chimney-may-have-been-there-for-years/article/1557274

more info from the cabin owner

RIP Josh.

I went to to high school with Ruth & Kate; his sisters.

gitana1 · Oct 1, 2015

LavenderLotus said:
http://gazette.com/body-in-woodland-park-cabin-chimney-may-have-been-there-for-years/article/1557274

more info from the cabin owner

RIP Josh.

I went to to high school with Ruth & Kate; his sisters.

Wow. This is so close to home for you. Hugs.

This is was a horrible death for him. Trapped and squeezed and probably yelling for help that never came. Gosh kids that age do stupid things. They don't think. Poor kid. I can only imagine what he went through.

This is is also a lesson to thoroughly check all abandoned/neglected properties in the area where a person, especially a child or young person, goes missing.

LavenderLotus · Oct 1, 2015

gitana1 said:
Wow. This is so close to home for you. Hugs.

This is was a horrible death for him. Trapped and squeezed and probably yelling for help that never came. Gosh kids that age do stupid things. They don't think. Poor kid. I can only imagine what he went through.

This is is also a lesson to thoroughly check all abandoned/neglected properties in the area where a person, especially a child or young person, goes missing.

Oh it's just awful. I was talking to my mom last night; she still lives in Colorado. We feel so awful for the family.

The thing about the mountains in Colorado is there are so many abandoned cabins, shacks, shantys, mines, etc. Even without all of those things, you could get lost up in the forest, quite literally forever.

Woodland Park is a tiny town of about 7,200 people surrounded by mountains & forests.

I'm just glad the Maddux family can give him a proper burial now.

SCHMAE · Oct 1, 2015

So bizarre. Prayers for his family.
Rest in peace, young man .

dotr · Oct 1, 2015

How horrible it must have been for this young man to be stuck in a chimney, it happens more frequently than one would think.imo.
Wondering how many other people who have gone missing, might actually be trapped in some cabin or construction site?
Joshua's family must be torn between despair and gratitude that their loved one has finally been found.

Vedder · Oct 1, 2015

Rest in peace, Joshua. It breaks my heart to imagine him stuck and hoping for help that never came. Glad his family can now lay him to rest.

IMO, MOO, etc.

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Rayemonde · Oct 3, 2015

What an awful way to go. Rest in peace, Joshua.

MagnoliaMountain · Oct 4, 2015

This makes me so sad...What a horrible, painful way to leave this world...Poor kid. RIP Joshua. Thinking of his loved ones.

JusticeWillBeServed · Oct 20, 2015

"Chimney discovery ends mystery over young man's disappearance, but questions remain"

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28991939/chimney-discovery-ends-mystery-over-young-mans-disappearance

The Teller County Coroner's Office confirmed the body found Aug. 7 was that of Josh Maddux, who was last seen walking out of his house in May 2008.

The discovery offered some closure to the Maddux family, but it raised a final, troubling question: Why was Josh there?

"For years there's tears and prayers and hope and hoping there's hope and wondering and waiting," Mike Maddux said. "All the sudden you're on a roller coaster."

"The hard tissue showed no signs of any trauma," Born said. "There were no broken bones There were no knife marks. There were no bullet holes."

"There is, so far, no answers to a number of things," Born said. "It is very confusing. This is probably one of the more tragic ones that we have to deal with."

Murphy is the owner of the now demolished cabin.

Murphy says he was there when Josh's body was found as an earth mover peeled back a steel fireplace insert within the chimney. Murphy has raised doubts about the coroner's theory because of rebar installed atop the chimney to keep animals out.

"There's no way that guy crawled inside that chimney with that steel webbing," Murphy said, adding that he thinks Maddux was forced into the space. "He didn't come down the chimney."

kaarendu · Oct 20, 2015

This is a death that I cannot fathom. I am so claustrophobic that it makes sick just thinking about.

RIP to this young man and all of my prayers and thoughts to his family. Hopefully they have peace now even though his death was the definition of unnecessary.

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Rayemonde · Oct 22, 2015

Josh was clad only in a ribbed thermal-type shirt; the rest of his clothes were found within the cabin outside the fireplace, near the hearth.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_2...ry-ends-mystery-over-young-mans-disappearance

How can this be?? I thought he came down the chimney, and then couldn't get out into the cabin because, as the coroner said, "there was a wood-burning insert in the fireplace of the cabin that made it impossible to get through the chimney at the bottom".
And how did the owner never notice the clothes?

Did somehow wriggle out of his clothes when trying to free himself? But then how did his clothes end up outside of the hearth??

Rayemonde · Oct 22, 2015

The coroner re-examined the COD after the cabin owner spoke to him, and there were also "calls to his office from tipsters offering the names of people who allegedly had bragged about killing Maddux in the cabin."

Murphy remains convinced Maddux was murdered, either forced up the chimney alive, trapped there and left to die or he was killed in the cabin and his remains forced through the damper and into the smoke chamber just above the firebox...

Murphy, 80, said it was impossible for anyone to slide down the chimney because a “heavy steel mesh grate” was installed near the top of the chimney when it was built 25 years ago.
Murphy is convinced the mesh remained intact and prevented anyone from sliding down the chimney.

But investigators didn’t see it when they responded to the call of the body because his crew had already tossed it in a truck.

Much more information at link:
http://pikespeakcourier.net/stories/Mystery-of-chimney-death-deepens,199356

The Coroner thinks that Josh started out inside the cabin, stripped off all his clothes except his vest, then went outside and climbed up onto the roof and down the chimney. Even though he knew he would be trapped there because of the wood burning insert, and also some heavy furniture that was in front of it. There were no drugs found in Josh's system.

To suspect a crime, Born said investigators needed to find evidence like duct tape or ropes that may have bound him or signs in the soot of the firebox showing footprints or other marks of a body being stuffed up it.

Because none of the above were found, Born (the coroner) once more ruled the death an accident.

Others have come forward with names of suspects, including long-circulating rumors of a man who bragged he killed Maddux.

Born said police detectives confirmed the man had a history of violence and a long criminal record. In fact, he is in prison in Texas and spent time in jail in Portland, Ore., and Seattle and was in trouble in New Mexico.

http://pikespeakcourier.net/stories/Mystery-of-chimney-death-deepens,199356

Miranda · Oct 22, 2015

Born said he likely died of hypothermia. Temperatures May 8-10 in 2008 dipped into the high 20s according to historic data at Weather Underground.

http://pikespeakcourier.net/stories/Mystery-of-chimney-death-deepens,199356

Because of terminal burrowing and paradoxical undressing, victims of hypothermia have been misrepresented as victims of crimes. Some police investigators have erroneously believed that a person who is naked and deceased is the victim of sexual assault and murder, and their discovery inside a small, enclosed space — such as beneath furniture — looks like an attempt to hide the body.

http://www.livescience.com/41730-hypothermia-terminal-burrowing-paradoxical-undressing.html

dotr · Oct 22, 2015

Two cases of people who died after getting stuck in chimney.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/02/doctor-dies-chimney-lover-home

"A doctor whose decomposing body was found in a narrow chimney suffocated to death after trying to break into her boyfriend's home, California authorities said yesterday.

The body of Dr Jacquelyn Kotarac was discovered trapped in the chimney on Saturday – three days after she had apparently slid feet first down it into the house of her estranged lover, William Moodie."

snip>
rbbm.
"The pressure being placed on the chest wouldn't allow her lungs to expand and she suffocated," he said".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...imney-of-derby-solicitors-office-8932814.html

"Burglar' suffocated to death after becoming trapped in chimney of Derby solicitor's office
The body of Kevin Gough, 43, was found in the chimney stack of Moody & Woolley Solicitors"

snip>

" The coroner said cause of death was found to be postural asphyxiation.

He had brick marks across his back and chest due to the confined space he had come to rest in, which would not allow his chest to expand and would have affected his ability to breathe."

snip>
rbbm

"He told the family that the pathologist who carried out the post mortem was keen to emphasise that he would have quickly lost consciousness and would not have been calling for help for a long period of time.

Mr Hunter said: "His death would have been very, very quick.

"He would not have lingered in the chimney for two or three days."

mayqueen · Oct 22, 2015

JusticeWillBeServed said:
"Chimney discovery ends mystery over young man's disappearance, but questions remain"

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28991939/chimney-discovery-ends-mystery-over-young-mans-disappearance

Murphy says he was there when Josh's body was found as an earth mover peeled back a steel fireplace insert within the chimney. Murphy has raised doubts about the coroner's theory because of rebar installed atop the chimney to keep animals out.

"There's no way that guy crawled inside that chimney with that steel webbing," Murphy said, adding that he thinks Maddux was forced into the space. "He didn't come down the chimney."

I wish I could see a photo of the rebar/webbing in the top of the chimney mentioned above, and of "the wood-burning insert in the fireplace of the cabin that made it impossible to get through the chimney at the bottom". I'm so confused!

LietKynes · Oct 22, 2015

Strange his clothing was discovered INSIDE the cabin ; assuming he'd already been able to access the interior -- why then shimmy down the chimney ? And what was with the furniture pushed up against the fireplace ? As if to conceal what was inside the chimney.
Was he hanging or stuck close enough that someone looking into the fireplace or putting wood , would have been able to see him ?

Found Deceased CO - Joshua Maddux, 18, Woodland Park, 8 May 2008

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