It has been described by officials as the worst case of hoarding they’ve ever seen.
And the clean up of Kenneth Epstein’s Las Vegas home began on Friday, where officials began removing materials that were stacked from the ceiling to the floor.
In fact, when building code officials went to the home they couldn’t enter because there was so much stuff blocking the door. They had to take the door off the hinges to enter.
The home was deemed uninhabitable, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, reported.
City spokesman David Riggleman said Epstein wouldn’t have been able to walk upright in the house, and would have to walk on top of the clutter.
Among the disgusting debris, officials found five refrigerators filled with food so rancid it had liquefied and five dead cats also were found. There were nine others alive in the home.
Riggleman said 10 truckloads of stuff were removed by Saturday afternoon and the cleanup continued Sunday.
“It’s a very tragic situation, but it’s also tragic for the neighbors,” Councilman Stavros Anthony said.
Epstein, himself, declined to comment when approached by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“You can write whatever you like about me,” he reportedly said.
Even though Epstein has received eight citations from the city about the hoarding since 2007, the problem escalated around two years ago when he became of the owner of the house after his mother died. [Trauma is often cited in direct correlation to hoarding.]
And City spokesman David Riggleman doesn’t think this will be the last time they will be paying a visit to Epstein’s home.
“This probably won’t be the last episode. We understand we may have to return,” Riggleman said
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