If you've been on I-294 by Grand Avenue just south of O'Harerecently, you might have noticed the billboard that has gone up . . .the one with a photo of a distraught young woman clutching a teddybear and gazing out a window.
One such motorist who saw the billboard, Perry Frost, contacted meand called it "one of the most disturbing things I've ever beensubjected to on a Chicago highway--and that's saying a lot."
It's not the picture itself that's so jarring. It's the ad copy.In big block letters, the billboard reads: YOU MEND YOUR HEART--WE'LL MEND YOUR HOME. AFTERMATH, INC.
There's a toll-free number at the bottom, along with anexplanation of just what type of service Aftermath Inc., provides:"Specialist in Suicide/Homicide/Unattended Death Clean-Up."
Think about it. Of course, that's the kind of unimaginably grislytask that you never do think about--until tragedy strikes, and yousuddenly have a need for someone who can do it. Someone who will comeinto your home and literally mop up a death scene.
You'd probably think that the police or the coroner's office orthe fire department or some official organization would perform suchwork, but the responsibility actually falls to the homeowner.
And that's where companies such as Aftermath step in. RememberHarvey Keitel's character Mr. Wolf in "Pulp Fiction," who knewexactly how to wipe down a crime scene? The guys who run Aftermathare legitimate versions of Mr. Wolf.
"We go in there and clean it up," said Chris Wilson, 30, thepresident and co-founder of the Plainfield-based company, which hasbeen in business for more than seven years and covers a nine-statearea.
Along with his partner, Tim Reifsteck, Wilson oversees anoperation that employs "16 or 17" full-time trained specialists, whoearn from $32.50 to $40 an hour. It takes a two-person team about sixto eight hours to clean up a typical death scene, though the amountof time varies depending on several factors that are too graphic anddisturbing to expound upon in your morning newspaper.
"The smell is 100 times worse than you can imagine," said Wilson,who rattled off many more details of various death scenes in a matter-of-fact manner.
Let's just say that a "standard" job will cost from $1,500 to$3,000. A shotgun suicide, more like $5,000. (Wilson said that theirservices are almost always covered by homeowner's insurancepolicies.)
Death never takes a holiday, and business is booming. Aftermathdoes as many as 20 jobs a week.
"I was in Detroit [recently]," said Wilson. "There's a lot ofbusiness up there."
And you'll know it when they're in your neighborhood. Four ofAftermath's five vans are "moving billboards," as Wilson puts it,painted with "Crime Scene" yellow tape and plastered with ad copyexplaining exactly what the company does. When you see one of thevans parked in a driveway and two guys step out in suits that makethem look like extras in "Outbreak," there's little doubt as to theirmission.
A mission of which Wilson takes no small measure of pride.
"We're helping people out in the hardest of times," he said. "Yes,the work is pretty disgusting--but it's something I'm proud of, andit's very rewarding. We're always getting cards and letters fromfamilies thanking us for our work."
Wilson said most workers who quit aren't so much freaked out bythe gore as much as they're overwhelmed by the human suffering.
"We're talking about families that are extremely distraught,sometimes to the point that they're almost out of control. I've hadguys come back and say, 'I can't take it, this poor woman was sobbingon my shoulder, I can't do this.' "
And it is almost always a guy doing the work, though Wilson said afemale student at Western Illinois University has worked for him thelast two summers, and his female secretary also has gone out on jobs.
"It's a unique business," he said. "Whenever I tell people what Ido for a living, they're always curious about it, they always want totalk about it."
Wilson is married and has a 3-year-old daughter.
"All my daughter knows is I have a job helping people," Wilsonsaid.
It's also a job that presents a unique marketing challenge.Aftermath is listed in the Yellow Pages under Carpet Care. Wilson hasadvertised on Chicago radio and has printed up hundreds of brochures,but the billboard represents a more aggressive marketing strategy.
Soon, another billboard will appear, this one off I-294 in Alsip,and it's almost sure to rankle some sensibilities. Instead of thewoman with the teddy bear, this one will feature an outline of abody, and the copy will read: "There Are Some Messes No One ShouldHave To Clean."
"We don't want to offend anyone," said Wilson, "but we have tomarket ourselves."
One thing is dead certain: There will always be a demand for thetype of services Aftermath provides.
E-mail: rroeper@suntimes.com
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