Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

A woman was found lifeless at her workplace days after she had passed away. Denise Prudhomme was found dead in her cubicle at Wells Fargo in Tempe, Arizona, USA, where she worked. The 60-year-old’s body was tragically discovered by a colleague.

Tempe Police said they received a call from co-workers on Tuesday (August 20) after they noticed a foul smell in their office and followed it to Prudhomme’s body, ABC 7 reported on Friday (August 30).

Highlights

Denise Prudhomme, 60, was found dead in her cubicle at Wells Fargo in Tempe, Arizona, four days after passing away.
Colleagues discovered her body on August 20 after noticing a foul smell, which they initially thought was a plumbing issue.
No foul play is suspected, but employees are questioning why it took so long for her body to be found.

Investigators reportedly said that Prudhomme had scanned her ID at 7 a.m. to get into the building of the American financial services company the Friday before (August 16), but there were no scans, in or out, after that.

Several employees reported they thought the strong odor was a problem with the plumbing, as per ABC 7. Police reportedly responded to the building, and Prudhomme was declared dead at the scene.

A woman was found lifeless at her workplace days after she had passed away

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Image credits: 12 News

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Image credits: 12 News

No foul play is suspected, but other bank employees are wondering why it took so long for someone to find her, WBRC reported on Thursday (August 29).

An employee who spoke with KPNX said Prudhomme’s cubicle was on the third floor and away from the main aisle.

The employee reportedly said that while most Wells Fargo employees at the Tempe location work from home, the building has 24/7 security, so someone should have found Prudhomme sooner.

Denise Prudhomme was found dead in her cubicle at Wells Fargo in Tempe, Arizona, USA

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Image credits: Luca Bravo (not the actual photo)

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Image credits: David von Diemar (not the actual photo)

Another worker reportedly said they wanted to see new safety protocols in place, saying this event was “negligence in some part.”

Someone else working at the same Wells Fargo office said the situation “was just uncomfortable” and called on the company to do more.

“The body was there about four days before anybody found it before anybody walked up to her and just to say hi, make sure she’s OK,” an employee told the American broadcaster. “She was just lying on her desk.”

The 60-year-old’s body was tragically discovered by a colleague on Tuesday (August 20)

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Image credits: 12 News

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Image credits: 12 News

A Wells Fargo spokesperson said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague and our Tempe office.”

They added: “Counselors, through our employee assistance consulting service, are available to support employees.”

An additional Wells Fargo staffer reportedly said management did offer those services and told colleagues the building was thoroughly cleaned.

Tempe police are currently working with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner to determine Prudhomme’s cause of death, WBRC reported.

“As people we have to do better for our fellow humans,” a reader commented

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

Poll Question

Thanks! Check out the results:

I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

Read less »

Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

Read less »

What do you think ?

POST

Elle Lian 2 months ago

I can see how this could happen, even with caring coworkers. We don’t know what time she passed away on Friday. Maybe it was around the time to clock out? It also said most people choose to work from home. Saturday and Sunday, people are off. This poor woman’s cubicle was away from where most other people were and again, a lot of her coworkers work from home. Only on Tuesday, when there started to be an odor, did people go into her area. Granted the cleaning crew should have, but if they think most people are working from home, I don’t know that I’d check every cubicle for trash. If this is a big enough building, and her cubicle was in a remote section, I could get people not noticing. It’s sad, but I’m sure there are coworkers and other staff feeling so guilty right now.

32points

Elle Lian 2 months ago

It says her cubicle was on the 3rd floor and away from the main aisle. I’m not sure how closely security would be watching the 3rd floor. If they did go up there to walk around, they probably stuck to the main aisle and was listening for odd sounds or looking for movement before they investigated something. Sadly, she wouldn’t have made either of those and, depending on which way her cubicle faces, they may not have been able to see into it unless they went over there.

21points

Load More Replies...

Bec 2 months ago

Yes, for those questioning about the cleaning crew, I worked somewhere with cubicle set up years ago and we were expected to take our trash and recycling up to one main location, cleaning crew didn't come around to each cubby

9points

Parmeisan 2 months ago

Plus, cleaning crew most likely doesn't come every single day. Probably Friday they saw her and assumed she was asleep. Monday they didn't come. Tuesday she was found. Really doesn't seem that odd, although of course still very sad.

4points

Binky Melnik 1 month ago

Not only that but not everyone has family. Or friends with whom they’ré in daily contact. It doesn’t sound far-fetched to me at all. I live in a building for homeless disabled vets, and the vast majority of time we only notice someone has died because of the smell. (Eerie note for people who may not be aware: When the police and paramedics come when someone’s died, they leave the body where it is because the coroner needs to come pronounce death. This led to someone’s body lying in his doorway for three hours last month. This is in NYC; perhaps it’s different elsewhere, but I mention this lest you’re shocked and horrified someday that your dead loved one isn’t immediately removed.)

-1point

Rosie 2 months ago

Poor woman. I live alone, so I expect (if I die at home) nobody will know for days on end & I'll be found nibbled on by my cat (I'm OK w/that, BTW). But even in my crummy job, I expect someone would be bothered by me "asleep" at my desk for days on end & perhaps complain to my boss or something. Here's hoping. Anyway, if there's a lesson here for all, jobs & coworkers don't give a damn about you unless you affect them directly. You're invisible. Though I bet plenty will ask for time off & counseling, since they "suffered" by ignoring the poor woman's body for almost a week. A$$h0le$!

26points

arthbach 2 months ago

A friend who lives by herself has taken the decision to post every day on facebook. If we don't see a post from her in 48 hours we initiate contact.

26points

Load More Replies...

BeesEelsAndPups 2 months ago

I have kids living with me still, but I imagine once they are out of the house I will be in a similar situation as this woman. Children call their mothers, not their fathers. And I work from home, so I don't even have office mates to miss me. That said, I am in meetings from 7am to 12pm most days. I think somebody would wonder why I wasn't showing up for those. If I were to ever retire, I'd imagine my body could sit for weeks without anybody thinking about it. This is really only a sad thing if you have pets that nobody is looking after

5points

James Doe 2 months ago

"A$$h0le$" Wow really judgemental without any information at all. It could also be the other way around and she made sure Noone in our outside of work would ever want to have contact. But I'm not just going to assume something like that without any reason. Only an... Would do that

-3points

Owiella Freddie 2 months ago

Sadly, this is not the first time this scenario has played out. There's a case from abut 20 years ago that also tells of an office building where it took about 4 days for employees to discover a male co-worker had died at his desk. In both cases, there was a weekend involved.

9points

Load More Comments

POST

Elle Lian 2 months ago

32points

Elle Lian 2 months ago

21points

Load More Replies...

Bec 2 months ago

9points

Parmeisan 2 months ago

4points

Binky Melnik 1 month ago

-1point

Rosie 2 months ago

26points

arthbach 2 months ago

A friend who lives by herself has taken the decision to post every day on facebook. If we don't see a post from her in 48 hours we initiate contact.

26points

Load More Replies...

BeesEelsAndPups 2 months ago

5points

James Doe 2 months ago

-3points

Owiella Freddie 2 months ago

9points

Load More Comments

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

A woman was found lifeless at her workplace days after she had passed away

Denise Prudhomme was found dead in her cubicle at Wells Fargo in Tempe, Arizona, USA

The 60-year-old’s body was tragically discovered by a colleague on Tuesday (August 20)

“As people we have to do better for our fellow humans,” a reader commented

Poll Question

Thanks! Check out the results:

Games

Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Donata Leskauskaite

Donata Leskauskaite

Staff Left Stunned After Discovering Their Colleague’s 4-Day-Old Lifeless Body At Her Cubicle

A woman was found lifeless at her workplace days after she had passed away

Denise Prudhomme was found dead in her cubicle at Wells Fargo in Tempe, Arizona, USA

The 60-year-old’s body was tragically discovered by a colleague on Tuesday (August 20)

“As people we have to do better for our fellow humans,” a reader commented

Poll Question

Thanks! Check out the results:

Subscribe to Access Exclusive Polls

Games

Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Donata Leskauskaite

Donata Leskauskaite

Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls