On the list of Airbnb horror stories, which is a growing genre of nightmare non-fiction, “finding dead body in the backyard” has got to be high on the list. A group of friends who rented an Airbnb in Palaiseau, France, discovered exactly that on their rented property near some woods, according to AFP. Police suspect foul play.
To really add a flair of “WTF” to this grisly tale, the body was already in an advanced state of decomposition. The body is a woman wearing a dress with no shoes, and a “ring with a large stone” on her finger.
Here’s a picture of the lovely-yet-macabe listing and the woods in question:
In an interview with Le Parisien (Google Translate), the owner mentions that a half-built home near his property tends to draw a strange crowd, concluding with “there are bottles,” I guess meaning that drunk idiots hang around there a lot. The owners also mention that they wouldn’t have known about the body for about a month since they’ve been traveling.
Although this is arguably less horrific than other tragic stories of gruesome accidental deaths of Airbnb renters, it’s a serious issue that this fast-growing share economy is widely under-regulated compared to hotels and more traditional bed and breakfasts.
Lack of regulation alone, however, usually only accounts for shoddy plumbing or an unmentioned annoying neighbor—it’s hard to argue that its responsible for a seemlingly random dead body in the backyard.
Contact the author at darren.orf@gizmodo.com.