MI - Pontiac woman's mummified body found in her garage

Nugget

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I think this is the right place for this! Otherwise, mods please move!

Woman's auto-payments hid her death for six years
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/michigan-mummified-body-found/

For years, the payments went out of the woman's bank account.
Nobody batted an eyelid. Bills were paid. And life went on as normal in the quiet neighborhood of Pontiac, Michigan.
Neighbors didn't notice anything unusual. The woman traveled a lot, they said, and kept to herself. One of them mowed her grass to keep things looking tidy.
At some point, her bank account ran dry. The bills stopped being paid.

The woman's mummified body was sitting in the backseat of her car, parked in the garage. The key was halfway in the ignition.
 
When I first heard the story I thought that maybe she committed suicide from carbon monoxide poisoning but now I'm not too sure since they said the key was half way in the ignition plus sitting in the backseat is suspicious. Hope they find out what happened to her.
 
The article said they are notifying family... so I guess she had some.
How sad... to have no one in your life to care if they don't hear from you for years.
I can't imagine calling for a welfare check and then not insisting they go back and check again.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=28969980&nid=711&fm=home_page&s_cid=featured-6

Police were dispatched to the house for a welfare check in 2007
after a neighbor reported not having seen the owner in a while. After seeing no signs of anything amiss, police went on their way, McCabe said.
 
How sad to not be missed by another soul....


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Wow. So sad. No one missed her? Did Inunderstand correctly, welfare check in 2007, however employer stated last seen her in sept 2008? I guess she had quite the bank account to sustain 6 years of monthly mortgage payments...
 
Yeah I bet her family is MAD now that they didn't do anything and find her sooner.
Guessing she had at least 100k in her bank account when she died. :twocents:
 
Mummified mystery: New details on woman found dead in Pontiac garage

http://www.freep.com/article/201403...ified-body-of-woman-found-in-foreclosed-house


Her sister, who lives in the Boston area, has been contacted and is trying to assist investigators in identifying the body.

“They hadn’t communicated for years,” Bouchard said of the sisters’ relationship.

Eventually, the $54,000 in her account ran out, and the house went into foreclosure, leading to this week’s gruesome discovery by a contractor the bank sent to check out the home.
Police said the body was clothed in a heavy winter coat and the skin had mummified. A key was in the Jeep’s ignition in the off position, police said.
 
I read earlier that she had been estranged from her family. Her step-dad sent her a letter when her mother passed away over one year ago but no response.

I read that neighbors said the lawn always was kept up but I wonder who was keeping it up? And how were they paid - thru automatic payments too?
 
wow this is indeed very sad.... She had no friends, no family to check on her. Brings tears to my eyes. I wonder how she died.
 
Could she have had the vehicle running inside a closed garage and then turn it off before it got to the point of death. And then just waited.. Sitting in the backseat is strange. But I suppose she could of been back there looking for something, and possible felt chest pains and sat in the seat while having a heart attack, possible stroke. Patiently will wait for answers.
 
I read earlier that she had been estranged from her family. Her step-dad sent her a letter when her mother passed away over one year ago but no response.

I read that neighbors said the lawn always was kept up but I wonder who was keeping it up? And how were they paid - thru automatic payments too?

They didn't necessarily have to be paid.
No one wants 6 years of lawn growth on their neighbors house.
Many people would mow it just to keep the neighborhood looking nice.
 
Mummified mystery: New details on woman found dead in Pontiac garage

http://www.freep.com/article/201403...ified-body-of-woman-found-in-foreclosed-house


Her sister, who lives in the Boston area, has been contacted and is trying to assist investigators in identifying the body.

“They hadn’t communicated for years,” Bouchard said of the sisters’ relationship.

Eventually, the $54,000 in her account ran out, and the house went into foreclosure, leading to this week’s gruesome discovery by a contractor the bank sent to check out the home.
Police said the body was clothed in a heavy winter coat and the skin had mummified. A key was in the Jeep’s ignition in the off position, police said.

If she had on her heavy coat, maybe she was trying to stay warm in the car and laid down on the backseat to sleep? I wonder if her heater in the house was working?
 
This is just so sad and so bizarre. News articles report the key to her SUV was found only "half-way" in the ignition, so while initial guesses might be that she climbed into back seat of her SUV parked in her closed garage and committed suicide by running car (carbon monoxide) but that wouldn't be possible if key wasn't even fully in the ignition?

http://www.freep.com/article/201403...ified-body-of-woman-found-in-foreclosed-house
 
Maybe she had a stroke or heart attack just as she as going to start the car?

I fear there will be many much such undiscovered deaths in the future, the way society is becoming more and more insulated from others and the outside world...JMO only. I am kind of isolated these days (health) and I admit I worry about something like if my husband dies before me...but as long as my one sister in particular is alive, I know she would get to the bottom of it if I did not email her for two days, even. Wishing her a long life...
 
Family was concerned about woman found dead in Pontiac garage

Mass. woman: Family was concerned about sister likely dead for years in Pontiac garage


Published On: Mar 11 2014 02:37:34 PM EDT Updated 1 h

PONTIAC, Mich. -
A Massachusetts woman who believes a mummified body found in a Pontiac garage is her sister's remains says the family had tried for years to find her.

Paula Logan tells The Associated Press that she asked police in Pontiac to visit the home of Pia Farrenkopf a few years ago. Officers told her they found nothing amiss...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...age/-/1719418/24920270/-/m604u7z/-/index.html
 
This reminds me of the film Dreams of a Life, which is based on a true story. I'd recommend watching it if you can.

So tragic to be undiscovered and apparently not missed all of those years.
 

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