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.
After its warnings went unanswered, the bank holding the mortgage foreclosed on the house, a common occurrence in a region hit hard by economic woes.
Still, nobody noticed what had happened inside the house. Nobody wondered out loud what had become of the owner.
Not until this week, when a worker sent by the bank to repair a hole in the roof made a grisly discovery.
The woman's mummified body was sitting in the backseat of her car, parked in the garage. The key was halfway in the ignition.
Authorities say they believe the woman died at least six years ago. They're still trying to figure out what happened.
"I've been doing this 37 years. Never seen anything like this before," said Undersheriff Mike McCabe of Oakland County, Michigan, just outside Detroit.
Dr. Bernardino Pacris, the county deputy medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, told the Detroit Free Press that the woman's skin was still intact, but that the internal organs had decomposed.
Thanks, Tiffani, for adding this to my list of fears. That's a sarcastic thanks, btw.
