- [Narrator] What is up, EWU Crew?
Today, we are covering
five bone-chilling hotel horror stories.
At first thought, hotels most likely conjure nothing
but luxurious and comfortable images.
We think of their comfortable sheets,
around the clock housekeeping,
mouthwatering breakfast buffets,
and breathtaking views that can't be found anywhere else.
For most people, hotel rooms have a positive connotation,
one that brings up images
of a snug and cozy home away from home.
But in the next stories,
hotel rooms have played a much darker and sinister role.
(ominous music)
Here's a countdown of the five scariest
and most spine-chilling hotel horror stories
that will have you on the edge of your seat.
(slow drumming)
Our first story starts at a local motel
in Memphis, Tennessee.
On January 27th, 2010,
James and Rhonda Sargent stayed in room 222
at the Budget Lodge, an old-looking yet comfortable motel
nestled in the heart of the city.
But while the room looked nice
the bed was a whole different story.
(menacing drumming) The couple complained to staff
that the bed in room 222 was stanky and foul
and burned incense sticks to chase the odor away.
They also noticed a ton of fabric softener sheets
stuck in every nook and cranny of the room,
including the ceiling tiles, which they took as a sign
that previous guests had the same issue.
Despite promising that they'd look into it,
the motel staff was no help.
So the Sargents decided to tough it out,
burning incense stick after incense stick
as they planned to give the Budget Lodge
a scathing review on Yelp.
Annoyed and frustrated, the couple decided to pack up,
leave and stay at another hotel.
On February 7th, about a week after they had left,
the Sargents moved back to the Budget Lodge
to save some money, rotating among three rooms,
they ended up spending one more night in room 222,
whose still pungent bed and sheet-stuffed ceilings
made a ghastly sight.
On March 15th, nearly three months after the Sargents
first started staying in room 222,
the cause of the foul smell was uncovered.
The slowly decaying remains of a woman
had been unceremoniously stuffed into a box
and placed under the king-size mattress and box spring.
- Revealed today in the murder of Sony Millbrook,
investigators say her boyfriend killed her
and left her decomposing body under a motel bed.
- [Presenter] Millbrook went missing January 27th, 2010,
more than four days later--
- February 1st, 11:38 a.m..
- [Presenter] Moody showed up at Tony's store.
- [Woman] And do you remember this?
- [Man] I sure do.
- [Presenter] That's him in the yellow shirt
using Millbrook's freshly replenished EBT account.
- [Man] That's the EBT card.
- [Presenter] To purchase a bottle of orange juice,
to withdraw $185 cash,
and then to buy a Cigarillo.
Defense attorney say the video shows Moody
calm and collected because he hadn't done anything wrong.
But prosecutors argue, it's further proof
that Moody's coldblooded, because they allege
he had already strangled Millbrook to death
and hid her body in the couple's room
at the old Budget Lodge, by stuffing it under the bed
and into that square bed frame.
- [Narrator] Pretty soon, it came to light
that the remains belonged to 28-year-old Sony Millbrook,
a beautiful nursing student and mother of five
who was reported missing on January 27th, 2010,
merely two days before the Sargents first checked in.
Sony had dropped off her four youngest children at daycare
and failed to pick them up,
which worried her family to no end.
Suspicious and driven by fear
they filed a report with the police.
After a week of no news and no leads
the missing persons unit
handed the case to homicide detectives
who visited the Budget Lodge on February 4th.
On the day of their visit, they put forth
an endless stream of questions to staff and guests,
but they never sought to enter the motel's room,
an oversight that the Sargents griped in the days
following the chilling discovery.
"If police detectives had asked us to come in
"we would have let them," said Rhonda Sargent.
"Surely they know what remains smell like, we didn't.
"They would have been able to find her
"so much sooner than when they did."
The Sargents claimed that they informed the police
about the foul odor in room 222,
which had been cleaned and rented out at least three times
since Sony was last seen with her kids.
However, the police and detectives denied
knowing about the state of that room,
claiming that not a single person
had come forward to file a report.
"They're a lie," said Rhonda Sargent,
"we went down there every day
"and told them how stanky that room was."
Soon enough more information about the grim events
in room 222 came to light.
Motel workers told the police
that they had bagged up Sony's personal belongings
after she failed to return and claim them,
cleaning the room and opening it up for rent afterward.
She had been staying there with her family
along with her boyfriend and father
of her four youngest children, 38-year-old Lakeith Moody.
Naturally, Lakeith became the primary suspect
in the murder case.
The police launched a full investigation
and a few weeks later, he was stopped and apprehended
while driving Sony's car.
Initially, he was detained on federal charges
of being a felon in possession of a gun,
but on February 9th, 2014,
he was finally sentenced to life in prison
for the role that he played
in the tragic murder of Sony Millbrook.
"My family's lives have been changed forever,"
reads an article purportedly written by Sony's relative.
Holidays and relationships with family members
would never be the same.
Sony will forever go down in history
as the woman whose lifeless remains
were found stuffed underneath a hotel bed,
but for her family and friends,
she was a heartwarming figure
and a caring, loving woman gone too soon,
leaving behind four young children,
Cleopatra, Christian, Lakeith and Colby.
Our next story takes place in Mexico City,
a sprawling metropolis and the largest city in Mexico,
as well as the most populous city in North America.
In 2016 though, Mexico City made headlines
for an entirely different reason,
the discovery of human remains
stuffed underneath a hotel bed.
Situated in the Doctores neighborhood of Mexico City,
El Senador is one of the most prominent hotels there
thanks to their slew of modern amenities
and incredible room furnishings.
Their guests, however, are notorious for leaving behind
some rather questionable items,
all of which are picked up by housekeeping staff.
The department may be used to cleaning a whole host
of disgusting stains, spills and marks,
but they weren't really prepared to deal with a crime scene.
The remains of a woman aged between 25 and 30
was found wrapped in plastic under one of the hotel's beds.
The cleaning staff had made the gruesome discovery
after the room started emitting a foul stench.
So they lifted the mattress to find themselves
face-to-face with the victim's remains.
"During the time that we believe the woman was under the bed
"several people checked into the room
"and slept with the remains underneath the bed,"
said a spokesperson from El Senador.
While the date of the discovery and the victim's identity
have never been made public, a coroner's report did state
that she had lost her life by suffocation.
Authorities also claim that the hotel's surveillance footage
showed her walking into Hotel El Senador
accompanied by a man who remains the primary suspect.
His name and face though, have never been disclosed.
The third story takes place in Pattaya, Thailand,
a city considered one of the world's
top tourist destinations.
The island is world-renowned for its buzzing nightlife,
going so far as to be nicknamed Sin City
by locals and visitors alike.
But guests at a local hotel
may not have shared the same sentiments
after learning that they had spent a night
sleeping on top of human remains.
On August 20th, a maid was cleaning a room
when she noticed a red blotch near the bed.
Upon further investigation, she uncovered a victim's remains
stuffed underneath the mattress,
a chilling discovery that prompted her to alert
the hotel manager and the police at once.
The lifeless remains belonged to Amphon Kongsong,
a local transgender woman, whom authorities believed
to have been no longer alive for three or four days.
Initially, the country's news outlets reported that two men
had checked into the hotel on August 16th,
taking the victim to their room
in the wee hours of August 18th.
When they checked out later that morning,
staff assumed that the woman who accompanied them
had all already left the building.
The following day, two guests checked into the room,
complaining about its foul odor
and insisting that it be generously sprayed
before they spent the night.
The discovery was only made the next morning
when housekeeping did their rounds.
On August 21st, two teenage boys aged 17 and 14
were apprehended by police at a bus terminal
in the Mueang Chiang Buri District.
Both suspects were from Nakhon Ratchasima
and were accused of murdering Amphon.
The Mueang Pattaya police chief, Paul Col Apichai Kropphet
alleged that the older boy admitted to murdering Amphon
helped by the younger teenager.
He had come to know the victim through Facebook,
claiming that she had persuaded him to find a job in Pattaya
and even brought them food
during their first few nights in the city.
He further stated that his rejection of her advances
angered the woman, which led to a fierce argument
that escalated into a physical altercation.
He suffocated her in a fit of rage
while the 14 year old boy subdued her
by holding onto her legs.
Realizing what they had done, they hid Amphon's remains
under the mattress and fled the hotel.
Both teenagers had previous records of assault cases,
which were still pending before the court.
They were further charged with the premeditated murder
of Amphon Kongsong, and the concealment of her remains.
Charges of robbery and theft
were also considered by the authorities
in case such evidence was discovered.
This next story involves not a customer,
but the tragic fate of two hotel employees,
Harish Shetty and Naresh Pandit.
Harish Shetty and Naresh Pandit worked as waiters
in a hotel located in Mira Road, an area found
in the Mumbai metropolitan region of Maharashtra, India.
On June 4th, 2020, the remains of the two men
were found floating in the hotel's 10,000 liter water tank,
their injuries pointing to nothing but murder.
They had been staying in the establishment
along with a few other staffers
when the state went into lockdown
following the COVID-19 global pandemic.
According to the police, they had been alerted to the scene
by the owner of the hotel,
who after receiving an anonymous tip
discovered the decomposing remains.
Preliminary investigations confirmed that the two victims
had injuries to their heads and stab wounds,
both of which pointed to foul play.
Based on circumstantial evidence, the police claim
that one of the victims was murdered in his sleep
and that more than one perpetrator was likely involved.
Their primary suspect though,
remained to be a third hotel staffer
who had gone missing the day the remains were discovered.
"Repeated attempts by the owner to contact him failed
"and we're trying to apprehend him,"
said the police in a press statement.
"He had mentioned to the owner earlier
"that he was going to leave for his hometown on June 1st,
"and it is possible that he left as per his plans.
"However, the level of decomposition of the remains
"places the time of death around the same date,"
the police officer continued.
"Hence we need to make inquiries with him
"to confirm or eliminate him as a suspect."
Investigations into this matter are still ongoing.
Our last hotel story takes place on November 22nd, 2017
at a Wausau, Wisconsin Village Inn.
Daniel Allen was staying there
with his companion Brian Kienast.
Unfortunately, Kienast overdosed on heroin.
Allen reacted swiftly
and tried to revive Kienast with NARCAN,
a drug used to counteract the lethal drug's effect.
When it didn't work, Allen freaked out
and left Kienast's remains in the room that he was renting
before locking himself in another room across the hall.
Naturally, the owner of the Village Inn
called the police to remove Allen.
Once he had been taken away,
authorities searched the room that he had left behind,
but ignored the actual room he was renting,
the one that contained the remains of Brian Kienast.
- [Reporter] Kienast was reported missing on November 22nd
from Adams County, that's about six months ago,
and authorities are not sure who or where he has been
since that time.
Now, the Marathon County Sheriff's office says
they believe he was in Marathon the week of Thanksgiving,
but authorities haven't heard from him since.
They are asking for your help to try to fill in the blanks.
- [Narrator] Allen was arrested that day
for disorderly conduct
but returned to the Village Inn later that day
to move Kienast's remains from the room he was renting
to the closet in the room
where he had barricaded himself in.
Five months later on April 19th, 2018,
the hotel owner discovered what he had left behind.
A foul smell had prompted him to investigate the room
upon which the decaying remains were uncovered
in the room's closet.
On April 24th, investigators talked with a man
imprisoned in the Buffalo County jail
who had been listed on the room rental
where Allen had stayed.
According to the suspect,
Allen had confessed to him that paralyzed with fear
he would be blamed for Kienast's overdose.
He had hidden the young man's remains in the room and fled.
He also claimed that he had turned down Allen's request
for help in moving the remains from the hotel,
wanting no part in the incident.
On August 27th, 2019,
Allen was charged with hiding the lifeless remains
of Brian Kienast, a Class F felony in Wisconsin
that carries a 12 1/2 year jail term.
He was currently serving a seven-year prison sentence
for unrelated drug related charges,
but if convicted of this one faces the prospect of spending
an overall total of 18 1/2 years in prison.
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