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Foul smell in car turns out to be dead mouse in the dash

By Ben Hooper
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Dec. 14 (UPI) -- An Arizona woman who detected a foul odor in her nearly-new car took it to a mechanic, where an exhaustive search ended with the discovery of a dead mouse and maggots.

Judi Miller said she noticed the smell getting progressively worse over the course of about a week, so she took the nearly-new car to Desert Car Care Center of Chandler, where mechanics conducted a thorough search of the vehicle.

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"Ended up pulling up seats, the plastic from the pillars," mechanic Frank Leutz told KPHO/KTVK.

The mechanics ended up replacing the cabin filter, where a rodent nest was found and cleaning the car, but Miller said the smell quickly came right back.

Miller said she brought the car back to the garage when she made a disgusting discovery -- maggots in the glove compartment.

"It's like a dirty diaper that's been sitting and festering for months. It was just the most disgusting thing," Miller said of the odor.

The mechanics searched inside Miller's dashboard and discovered the cause of her discomfort: a dead mouse.

Desert Car Care said they had never seen a case like Miller's before, and the unfortunate rodent's demise should serve as a reminder to keep windows rolled up when parked.

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