When booking an Airbnb, you may expect there to be little quirks that aren’t mentioned in the listing. But a group of friends who spent the night at a home in Palaiseau, a rural town located a few miles outside Paris, encountered a gruesome surprise in the backyard of their weekend rental: a decomposed body hunched over on the edge of the woods. According to The Washington Post, officials point to foul play, as the body appeared to be intentionally covered with leaves and was in an advanced decomposed state. Police say the body had been outside for at least a month and looks to be that of a white woman in her mid-to-late 40s.
The listing has been removed, and an Airbnb spokesperson said the company is reaching out to the hosts and plans to provide as much information to the police as it can. "Over 80 million people have traveled on Airbnb, and problems for hosts and guests are extremely rare," the S.F.-based company told officials. The family residing in the 19th-century-style, seven-bedroom home, is away on vacation and will be questioned upon return.
This is hardly the first incident in which safety has been a concern with Airbnb. Back in November, writer Zak Stone’s father was killed after a tree swing collapsed at a rental. Unlike hotels, properties don’t have specific safety regulations to follow, and since there are no on-site checkups or protocols, you never know what could happen on the property. Discovering a body and being questioned by police? Probably not the way you want to spend your next vacation.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT