EFFORTPOST What exactly happened to Lacey Fletcher?

Backstory

Lacey Fletcher lived in Slaughter, Louisiana, U.S. At a young age, she was diagnosed with autism. Her friends described her as an open person - smart but immature. She loved Disney and once invited friends over to watch Disney movie with her when they were 18. Her parents suddenly took her from highschool when she was 16 to homeschool her. They claimed they did this because her autism got worse. Lacey's friends claimed that they haven't noticed any negative changes in her behaviour. It is also said she used to get bullied for her autism, I don't know if this is true. She was also an active person, going for a jog around 2-3 times a day, playing volleyball, bowling. Many people remember her to be a very friendly girl with many interests.

Corpse

On Janurary 4, 2022, Lacey's parents called 911 to report that her 36 year old daughter is dead. Dr. Ewell Bickham was responsible for examining the Corpse of Lacey. He described the smell:

'When I walked in, the house smelled of a stench of, it smelled like a sewer, or septic tank and also a smell of death. I've never smelled that in my life.'

He also said it stunk of feces and rotten flesh. He explained how he has never seen a case like this and that he was used to decomposing bodies. But Lacey didn't just decompose, she was rotting in her own body. He described the house to be well organized, except the couch in the center of the living room. He described how Lacey's father was just standing there, emotionless, while her mother Sheila had her head between her knees, crying a bit.

Lacey's corpse was laying in the couch. Her top was pulled over her chest and she was wearing no pants. She was found in a position where her legs were crossed. She was covered in feces. There were maggots all over her, in her body, in her hair, eating away the rotten flesh from her body. At some parts, her bones were visible. She was really skinny and her skin was yellow due to malnutrition. The parts of her skin that weren't yellow, were strongly infected, eaten by maggots or rotting. Her teeth were in a relatively good condition, unlike the rest of her body. It is assumed that she was on that couch, in that exact position for around 12 years. In her mouth was found feces. In her stomach was found yellow foam from the sofa and feces. Her corpse was said to be around 69 pounds, which is severly underweight.

The state of her body and the sofa show that she was alive for 12 years, on that sofa without moving, while her body was rotting, while maggots were literally eating her skin and flesh up to her bones. Imagine that. Sick.

The couch looked like it was melting. It was soaked with human urin and feces, which were also already on the floor underneath. The wall behind the couch was also very moist.

How did her flesh start rotting when she was still alive?

Diaper Rash: This is usually found in infants and young children when they skin is exposed to their wet or soaked diapers for too long.

Diaper rash is a form of dermatitis that looks like patches of inflamed skin on the buttocks, thighs and genitals.

This probably happened to Lacey, because she was literally sitting in her shit and piss for years. If a diaper rash is untreated, the skin starts to swell, it can form those white bumps that have liquid in them. After some time, the skin starts to peel off. This only gets worse when that open wound is still in contact with shit and piss. Lacey was probably in a lot of pain due to that.

Also, it could have been that in the beginning of all this, she still had her period, which means there was also blood which soaked the sofa. Flies are usually attracted by blood. So her private parts were probably not only exposed to ammoniak and bacteria but also by flies. Just imagine how incredibly painful that must've been.

Bedsores: Bedsores happen when a body part is under pressure without much oxygen for a long time. Usually this is when a person is in the same position in a long time. The blood supplies get cut off and the tissue starts dying. Here is an example:

These two things combined, caused the skin and flesh to get infected so bad, that her body literally started rotting.

How did she survive for so long with rotten flesh?

Usually, when your flesh is rotten, it is very likely that you get a sepsis and die. So how did she survive? Probably because of maggots. Maggots were eating away the dead flesh on her body. They were basically "cleaning" her body and keeping her alive. (It is still a wonder how tf she survived for so long).

Why didn't she get up?

First I have to say that at some point, she wasn't able to get up anymore, even if she wanted to. Why?

Compartment syndrom:

Compartment syndrome happens when there's too much pressure around your muscles. The pressure restricts (reduces) the flow of blood, fresh oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and nerves. Compartment syndrome is extremely painful.

If that happens, potacium can start to build up in that area. For Lacey, that could've been her butt and thigh area. So if she got up, the potacium would have gone into her blood stream, to her heart and she'd die. That means, she wasn't only unable to get up at some point, but if she did, she would've died.

Rotting: Her skin and flesh was literally rotting so it would have been impossible for her to get up after some time.

Ok, but how did she get to that point?

Theory 1: Locked-In Syndrome

Locked-In Syndrome basically means she wasn't able to move her body at all. When you have that Syndrom, you are able to think clearly but it is impossible for you to move any part of your body. If you are lucky, you are able to move your eyes and even blink. A lot of people think that this must be the reason why Lacey didn't get up. It's the simplest solution and would explain everything. Right? Not exactly. When Lacey was around 27 years old, around 2014, she was still able to email her friends. The emails seemed to be really positive and her friends claimed that it didn't seem like someone else wrote them. It is also said that right before Lacey died, her parents were on a vacation for about two weeks. It was assumed that the couch foam and feces were found in her stomach because she literally ate it to survive. It is also said that people with Locked-In Syndrome barely survive for long because they literally can't swallow, which means they die without a feeding tube. Even if she was force-fed by her parents, she couldn't have swallowed any of it. Also, Locked.In Syndrome is often caused by brain trauma. Lacey's parents never mentioned any kind of head injury or similar, so they either lied or she just didn't have Locked-In Syndrome. Those factors make be think that this theory is wrong.

Theory 2: Agorophobia

People with Agorophobia are afraid of leaving enviorments that they know well or consider as safe. In severe cases, this means that these people can't leave the house or a specific room. Agorophobia could be a reason why Lacey didn't get up from the couch, because she considered this couch to be the only safe space in the whole world. But if that is true, there are some questions that I have. Why was she only on one single side of the couch? Why was she in the exact position for years? Why did she never move at all? Overall a good theory though imo, I just don't believe that's all that happened.

Theory 3: Trauma

Some people think that maybe Lacey went through some horrible mental trauma, that made her refuse to get off the couch or move around. An example for that kind of trauma could be sexual assault or similar. Pretty unlikely, because why would that cause her to never move at all again? Maybe someone who knows more about brains can explain this one to me cuz idk.

Theory 4: She was tied to the couch

Her parents could've tied her to the couch until the point where she couldn't move anymore anyways. Maybe they tortured her, or (sexually or psychologically) abused her. We have no proof for this but it is a theory. But why would they give her her phone to write the emails then? Did they just write the emails themself?

Theory 5: Treatment resistant depression (by @Pete120)

Treatment resistant depression can make you go into a catatonic state and just lay there for a long time. I have it and I also have many mental health conditions. I also had around five head injuries in life and I have experienced catatonic treatment resistant depression. I also experience symptoms of CTE. I laid in bed for 2 1/2 weeks straight. I only got up to shower( clinical OCD) and pee. The anhedonia is the the worst feeling I ever felt. Thanks to Mytragyna and Effexor. I am fairly better. Which is huge considering all the meds Ive taken. They are saving my life.

Neglect

No matter what exactly happened, I think we can all agree that the parents were shitty parents. If Lacey had some kind of psychological problems and didn't want to take care of her themselves, why didn't they send her to a clinic where she would've been taken care of? The Fletchers weren't poor. They also left Lacey on a couch with no food or water for 2 weeks while they were at vacation. Lacey#s mother claimed, that the night before Lacey died, she gave Lacey a sandwich and cheetos to feed her. That was obviously a lie though because all that could be found in Laceys stomach was sofa foam and shit. Also, they walked past her ROTTING body every single day. There were maggots and shit everywhere, how could they not have noticed? How did they never see the need to visit a doctor or call an ambulance? No one can argue with me about how they weren't at fault because what kind of parents do that? That's just sick and disgusting.

Her parents took a plea deal for manslaughter and were sentenced to 20 years. (March 20, 2024)

Pictures:

Note: I am not a doctor. I wrote this because I was really interested in the case today lol. If you have any more theories or anything that I could add to this post, just comment it!