Bradley Wernham stole items worth more than £1m between the ages of 12-18 and was spared jail in October 2009 after confessing to 17 burglaries.
He also asked for 654 of his burglaries to be “taken into account”.
Wernham, of Harlow, Essex, was found dead in a field in Gilston, Hertfordshire, on November 23.
His family had reported him missing on November 19 after he had gone drinking in a nearby pub, but failed to return home.
His mourners in Harlow town centre have erected a shrine in his memory.
The shine which was made in his honour is filled with candles, flowers and messages from people who knew Bradley.
The judge sitting at Chelmsford Crown Court decided that despite his appalling record – including previous convictions for more than 20 burglaries – to spare Wernham jail, instead handing him a curfew and 150 hours of community service.
The burglar, dubbed a “one-man crime wave”, was handed a rent-free flat and also sent to college at the taxpayers' expense after he told the court he wanted to “turn his life around”.
But just three months later, in January 2010, he was arrested again after cops in Chelmsford, Essex, noticed a “500 per cent spike in burglaries” in the area.
He was jailed for five years in August 2010 at Chelmsford Crown Court after admitting burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and attempted burglary.
After just 18 months behind bars, he was released.
The career criminal, originally of Harlow, Essex, only ever spent a year and a half in prison and was living with his partner Louise Upton.
A spokesman for Essex Police confirmed that the body of Wernham had been found at 1pm and that his death is currently being treated as “unexplained but not suspicious”.
Wernham's gran Pauline told the Essex Chronicle that her grandson was 'very funny', saying: "He made people happy and he was very funny."
Mum Sharon told the newspaper this week: "If he saw homeless people he would go and get them chips and make sure they had been fed. He will never be forgotten."
Louise, Bradley's partner, said: "He was amazing. I saw him every day. He was there for me and he was changing his life.”
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