Investigators alleged 74-year-old Gordon Stewart had stored so many boxes, carrier bags and pieces of old furniture in his Broughton hamlet home that he became lost and ultimately died of dehydration, The Daily Telegraph said Wednesday.

Stewart's body was found inside his cluttered home after neighbors contacted police when they didn't see him for several days.

The smell from Stewart's home stopped police officers from searching for the missing man last Friday, prompting the involvement of a specialist diving team.

Those workers equipped with breathing apparatuses located Stewart's body amid piles of trash organized into an intricate tunnel system, the Telegraph reported.

"He was slightly eccentric, but very clever. He was just a collector," one unidentified neighbor said after the discovery. "He came home with a load of cardboard boxes and lived in his own world."

An autopsy was pending.