Inventor’s Quest Ends in a Tiny Storage Unit

Sam Allen Davidson came to Los Angeles to breathe life into his inventions.

But his life ended in a small, stuffy Van Nuys storage room surrounded by scientific notes that he could not bear to leave. He apparently had been living there since March.

“He had a high IQ and was able to comprehend math and science, but he didn’t have the common sense to take care of himself,” said his brother Karl Davidson, 55, of Olympia, Wash.

Sam Davidson died of complications from a heart condition, authorities said Wednesday. Social workers had urged him to seek help after recent bypass surgery.

The 53-year-old inventor was convinced he could get rich from his ideas, his brother said. Davidson had rarely held a steady job, choosing instead to work on his inventions.

“He was a diabetic. He also had quadruple-bypass surgery at UCLA Medical Center in Torrance about five weeks ago. The social workers said they wanted to get him into a recuperation center where they could care for him, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to be with his stuff.”

On Tuesday, Los Angeles city fire officials discovered Davidson’s body in a 10-by-24-foot storage unit in the 15500 block of West Erwin Street. They were called to the scene by a report of a possible hazardous material, a red liquid dripping from Davidson’s storage unit into an office below, which forced the evacuation of more than 75 tenants.

Davidson had been dead for as long as 72 hours, officials said. Blood from his decomposing body leaked through the ceiling, they said.

Police said Davidson had set up a makeshift bed inside the room, surrounded by boxes that his brother said contained the valuable scientific notes.

“He was obsessed with his inventions and the idea of getting rich,” Karl Davidson said. “He had some patents. Robotics is one. He was working on a robot. But he wanted to do it alone.”

Doing it alone meant sacrificing a steady income. With the exception of a brief stint as a draftsman with a Washington state power company, Davidson never held a steady job. Often relying on family charity to make ends meet, Davidson sometimes meandered from relative to relative, including his brother Karl and an aunt in Hollister, Calif.

But he always ended up in Los Angeles, where he felt he could turn his dreams into reality. An employee at Sherman Oaks-Van Nuys Mini-Storage, which leases the storage units, said Davidson rented out the storage space about a year ago. Karl Davidson and other family members believe he began living there after a brief stay with his aunt.

Employees were stunned that Davidson could live undetected in the unit, which has no air conditioning. The only bathroom is a public toilet inside the four-story complex.

“We had no idea,” said one employee. “We don’t allow our tenants to live in our property here. This is the first time it has happened.”

For Davidson, it meant that no one was there to help him when what his brother described as years of eating poorly and drinking two six-packs of Coke a day finally took their toll.

For Karl Davidson, the loss is not over. He still has to face the task of coming to Los Angeles with his sister and going through his brother’s belongings, including the scientific notes. Karl fears he will toss away some notes that, if he could understand them, could lead to an invention that would vindicate his brother’s efforts.

“We don’t know what to go through,” Karl Davidson said. “We’re not going to know about what notes he has to keep or anything. It’s going to be a loss.”