An "eccentric" loner who filled his home with rotten garbage is believed to have died of thirst after becoming lost in a bizarre network of tunnels and caves he built to get around.
British police believe Gordon Stewart died of dehydration after becoming lost in the labyrinth of cardboard boxes, furniture, garbage and other junk, the Daily Mail reports.
Police were forced to call in a specialist diving team with special breathing apparatuses to sift through the garbage because the smell was so overpowering, according to witnesses.
After digging their way through, the team discovered Mr Stewart's corpse amongst his rubbish.
Neighbours raised the alarm after not seeing Mr Stewart for a few days.
Locals said the 74-year-old often rode a bike around the neighbourhood in Buckinghamshire in Britain's south and had been stockpiling rubbish in his two-storey home for 10 years.
"He was slightly eccentric but very clever … he was just a collector … and lived in his own world," one neighbour said.
Photographs show garbage-filled plastic bags squashed against the home's windows while a discarded television set and old furniture lie in the front yard.
It's believed Mr Stewart lived alone and had no next of kin.
Police are not treating the death as suspicious.
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