14 DAY TRIAL // An employee of a property management company who was doing work on a foreclosed home in Detroit, Michigan, made a grisly discovery in the garage attached to the house. He found the “mummified” body of a woman believed to be the homeowner, who hadn't been seen by neighbors for several years.
The worker found the frozen body in the backseat of a Jeep Liberty parked inside the garage, in an apparently mummified state. Investigators believe that the remains belong to a 49-year-old woman who has been dead since at least 2008.
The local medical examiner's office performed an autopsy on Thursday, which showed there was no trauma to the body. The remains were practically frozen, and the body's skin was intact although the internal organs were decomposed. A cause of death is yet to be determined.
The neighbors identified the woman as a German immigrant who had worked in the auto industry. They said the woman used to travel a lot for work and was frequently absent from home. They haven't seen her for years and believed she had moved out of the country.
However, they say there was no indication that there was a body stuck inside the garage.
“She was probably there for a couple of days, then she'd leave for a week, then she'd come back. Then she'd leave for a month and come back,” neighbor Caitlyn Talbot told a local media outlet, according to NY Daily News.
“She didn't really talk to anyone. I'm sure she was a nice lady. She really kept to herself. We never really heard anything from her,” Talbot added.
Police say the license plate of the utility car expired in 2008. They also mention the electricity was still on in the house.
“She had $54,000 (€39,000) in her account and her bills were being deducted. Eventually the money ran out and her house went into foreclosure,” Oakland County undersheriff Mike McCabe explains.
He also mentions that neighbors had complained about a hole in the roof of the house that allowed raccoons to get in, which is why the company that was managing the house sent a repair man to fix it. That's when the worker discovered the mummified body.
The official says they believe they have identified some relatives of the deceased homeowner on the East Coast, but he hasn't revealed the name of the woman until they could be notified.