In late May, Officer Ryan Wilder was called to an apartment in Windsor, Connecticut, after a woman reported that she hadn’t seen or heard from her neighbor in a few days. On his way into the building, a worker from Siam Corner Thai Kitchen stopped him, and asked if he could check out the restaurant, too: there was a strong smell in the kitchen and a strange liquid was leaking through the ceiling.
If you know where this is going, then congratulations on finishing all 14 seasons of Criminal Minds. “I went into the restaurant and discovered a reddish brown substance dripping from the ceiling located behind the front counter of the restaurant,” Officer Wilder wrote in his incident report. “It appeared that the dripping substance was possibly blood.”
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Wilder went upstairs to the apartment—the same one that the concerned neighbor had called about—and banged on the door a few times, but didn’t get a response. When a second officer arrived, the two of them climbed through an unlocked window to investigate, and yes, they found a dead body.
A man, whose name has not been released, had apparently passed away in his bed. “It was readily apparent that [name redacted] had been deceased for several days, as his body had begun stages of [decomposition],” Wilder wrote. The two officers found his wallet and were able to identify him from his driver’s license photograph. According to WFSB, the paramedics were called to the scene and, after an examination, they believe that the man died from natural causes. (Although no one has confirmed exactly what that cause was, the police said that medications for heart failure and high blood pressure were found inside the apartment.)
WTNH reports that a biohazard company was called in “for remediation,” which has been completed. A day after what had to be one of Officer Wilder’s least favorite Wednesdays, Siam Corner wrote on its Facebook page that the restaurant was closed for renovation. As of this writing, the restaurant remains closed. “We [are] currently closed to bring the restaurant into compliance with all current fire codes,” a staffer told VICE in a Facebook message. “We hope we can open next week.” (The restaurant is not closed because of what happened upstairs—but that situation did reveal that its ceiling was not currently up to the city’s standard; VICE has reached out to Windsor city officials for additional comment.)
According to its website, Siam Corner Thai Kitchen promises “enjoy authentic Thai food in an inviting setting,” and although reviewers don’t often mention the setting, they do get hype about the pho, the portion sizes, and the excellent service. (“Great People, Great Food, Great Vibe!!” one pretty typical Google review reads.)
Also, props to that woman who was worried enough about her neighbor to have the police check on him. We’re sorry that his story ended like this, but you’re still the best possible example of next-door goals.
