Body of supermarket worker, missing for 10 years, found behind freezer

Larry Murillo-Moncada was reported missing in 2009. Photo / Supplied

US authorities say the remains of a western Iowa man who was reported missing in 2009 were found this year inside a closed supermarket where he'd worked.

The Council Bluffs Police Department said in a news release Monday that the man has been identified through DNA analysis as 25-year-old Larry Murillo-Moncada.

Police say the Council Bluffs man fell into an approximately 46cm gap between the back of a freezer and a wall at No Frills Supermarket. Former employees say it was common for workers to be in the storage space above the freezers.

Larry Murillo-Moncada was reported missing in 2009. Photo / Supplied

Police say his parents reported him missing November 28, 2009. They say he'd become upset and ran from their home.

"It was a snowstorm at the time," Sergeant Brandon Danielson told the Des Moines Register: "He left with no shoes, no socks, no keys, no car."

Noise from the freezer units could have made it difficult for anyone to hear him crying for help. "It's so loud, there's probably no way anyone heard him," Sgt. Danielson said.

During the search authorities contacted family members, scoured nearby detention centres and attempted to trace him through the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, as Murillo-Moncada had been deported to Honduras before returning to the US.

The store was shuttered in 2016. The remains were found in January and an autopsy found no signs of trauma. The death was ruled accidental.