[music playing]
RADIO HOST: It's good old KTMP.
We call it hometown country.
1340 right here in Heber City, Utah.
I'm Judy.
And I work part-time at a local radio station.
You didn't go up to the thrift store today either?
RADIO HOST: I didn't make it today, no.
JUDY: I am a mother, a grandmother,
a wife, and a hoarder.
[music playing]
I'm Nile.
I'm Judy's husband.
Our house is full.
There's a trail that goes from the front door to the bedroom
and forks off to one of the bathrooms.
And that's basically the house.
I'm David.
And I'm Judy's brother.
My sister is a really sweet person with a really big heart
but a really cluttered up and confused mind.
After Nile's mother passed away, they inherited the farm.
Look what I got.
We sold 32 acres for a million dollars.
DAVID: They go buy trailers and trucks,
four or five microwave ovens.
And she's got two or three laptop computers because she
buys one that gets lost in the shuffle,
and then she has to go buy another one.
There's probably about 200,000 left.
DAVID: The missing money issue for my sister--
when my mom passed away, I was in charge of her estate.
So she gets monthly checks automatically sent to her.
She doesn't negotiate those checks.
They're laying around somewhere.
Between the checks and the money orders,
there's probably roughly right around 30,000
that I'm looking for.
DAVID: They don't have any concept of what money is.
She needs to know that things have got to change,
or her life is going to go downhill in a hurry.
[music playing]
I have had a lot of losses, a lot of drama in my life.
DAVID: After my dad passed away, she began to collect things.
By the time my mother passed away,
my sister's hoarding issue was overwhelming.
I think she was trying to replace what she had lost.
It filled in a gap.
And then my girlfriend that I lost three years ago, we
did a lot of thrift stores.
And I miss her so bad still.
I think I could--
maybe it sounds crazy, but I think
I could pretend that we were still
kind of doing it together.
NILE: It's almost a comfort to her,
to be able to go get things, bring them to the house,
and collect things, basically.
I probably haven't handled it the correct way,
but Judy is my life.
It'd be-- it'd just heartbreak me to hurt her.
DAVID: I'm concerned about her health, her safety,
and quite honestly, her financial future.
[music playing]
Good morning, everybody.
Morning.
Good morning.
My name is Matt Paxton.
I'm an extreme cleaning specialist.
It's kind of a treasure hunt.
There's some checks in there.
Yes, there are.
Do we know where they are?
No.
Everything that she does-- her verbiage,
her manner, everything is like, oh, no big deal.
Life is great.
Life is wonderful.
She's in total denial with no reason to change.
And I've got to get her to change in two days.
The other thing I want to do is teach you the skills
to keep the house clean, because as
quickly as we'll clean this place up,
you can fill it up again.
Nuh-uh.
And I think the family would agree.
Correct? - We agree.
- Yes. - Yeah.
All right.
Family, are we ready?
We're ready.
All right, let's do it.
[music playing]
If it's Western, it probably stays.
Western stuff stays.
Here.
Look at this.
We're going to put money with jewelry, right?
MATT PAXTON: We got-- we got money over here.
JUDY: Oh, we got money here.
DAVID: Look what I came across.
It was in a bag of garbage that mom had asked me to throw away.
Well, no wonder I never got that unemployment check.
MATT PAXTON: You did get it because you have it
right there.
This is from September of 2003.
What do you mean void after 30 days from issue date?
Anything that happens in her life is somebody else's fault.
That was, let's see, eight and a half years ago.
Well, I don't give a [bleep].
They owe it to me, and I want it.
DAVID: She needs to come to the conclusion
that she needs to start blaming herself and taking
responsibility for her own actions.
MATT PAXTON: Colby doesn't stand the test of time, I guess.
She's been telling me she hadn't been in here since July.
Technically, that's true--
July of 2006.
[music playing]
DAVID: OK, here's some purses, Rog, so-- ooh, and a checkbook.
I look at Judy as financially irresponsible,
not as being spoiled.
Spoiling, to me, is like going and buying a new Porsche.
Not buying a house full of [bleep]..
We found some dollar bills in another purse
that we put in the bottle.
OK.
DAVID: Need to go back in.
This is a checkbook, and that I need to keep.
I told you there was a pile of money.
Well, I know there's money.
There's always money in my purse.
She likes to spend money.
I don't think Judy understands the value of a dollar, truly.
Oh, this is it.
This is it.
I told you.
DAVID: Let's see.
I want to see it.
That's the check I signed for you right there.
Now, give me that.
That's my commission for this.
MATT PAXTON: It was exciting for her to get the money,
but only thing that was good about that was she's
able to show her brother that she didn't lose it.
She found it.
She was really excited about that.
WOMAN: That's my check.
[laughs]
Look, I told you they were all together.
My God.
How much more you got in there?
Don't touch it.
NILE: It was a relief to me, but I think it was more of a relief
to her, because just the excitement in her voice
made it worth finding the check.
Don't be grabbing.
Those are rebate.
Leave them alone.
When this stuff comes, why don't you
go deposit this stuff?
Because I don't want it in that specific bank.
Because I don't want everybody in town knowing my business.
And that's what happens in a small town.
There's $25,000 here.
Don't worry about buying a new couch with that money.
Let's go invest it so that you have something
to rely on in the future.
My money.
And I need it now.
[music playing]
MATT PAXTON: I came here thinking
I was helping Judy and trying to figure out
where her million dollars went.
And I love you.
Well, I know that, but.
OK, calm down.
MATT PAXTON: All of a sudden, I realized this morning,
this is not about Judy.
This is about the family.
I mean, [bleep] that we save every year--
MATT PAXTON: This whole thing just clicked
as soon as I Nile lose it.
We're done.
You make the decisions how you want to.
MATT PAXTON: And you could see him crying,
but he's almost smiling now because he finally let it out.
This dude's been in pain for 20 years.
You've been at your wits end for a while.
Oh yeah.
But you're just a good dude.
And you don't-- I'm assuming you don't really verbalize it.
No.
MATT PAXTON: I didn't know if I was going to do it or not,
but we're going to have to talk to her about responsibility.
And she needs to know that it's-- she
probably doesn't know that it's hurting you guys like it is.
They've been hurt over, and over, and over by this woman.
And she doesn't even mean to hurt them.
I know.
I know it.
OK.
DAVID: Wish I had a beer for you.
Whiskey would be better.
But they've been so supportive to the point
that they've really lost who they are.
What's going to be really exciting is
I hope in a little bit we're going
to sit down with Dr. Chabaud.
Judy needs to hear this.
I'm going to start with you because you
have spent many, many years of your life
not being in this kitchen.
So how could you, for 10 to 11 years,
not say that you wanted to cook in your kitchen?
I don't know.
I just never wanted to upset her.
I just want to be able to sit down in front of the fireplace
and just relax.
MAN: Me, and David, and Roger, and Trish
have done all this work to get all of this done so that we
can help you and Dad get along.
We love you guys so much and would love to be
coming over here a lot more.
DR. CHABAUD: This family would have gone on stuffing,
and stuffing, and stuffing.
We took away the stuff that distracted them from life
and made them look at each other.
And what a lovely sight.
I want you to look at him, and from the bottom of your heart,
you tell him that you're sorry.
You tell him in your own words.
I'm sorry.
I didn't realize it.
I've just been building this nest and this cocoon, actually,
around myself and shutting everyone else out.
And I am sorry.
I'm going to work on it.
And we're going to do better.
I did not realize that I had crippled
my family from being happy.
When people think of an inheritance,
they think of money.
They think of a million dollars.
Wow.
They could have helped so many generations to come.
In this case, the million dollars kept them from growing.
In some sense, it's good that it's
gone because now the family can look at the real treasures.
[music playing]
MATT PAXTON: Taking 9 tons out of this house.
It's amazing what this family has come together and done.
NILE: I made a big mistake by not saying something earlier.
Just say something.
I just hold on too long.
JUDY: Cleaning out the house has saved
my heart, my marriage, my kids, my family, my siblings, and me.
[music playing]