Skeleton found in LA home
2008-12-04 08:01
Los Angeles - Police investigating a
foreclosed Los Angeles house found the skeleton of an elderly
woman, apparently dead for two years, who had lived there with
her 48-year-old son.
Coroner's officials said they were trying to identify the
woman they believe was Barbara Hunt, who would have been 86.
Media reports said the woman's son, Robert Hunt, was at the
home in North Hollywood when police arrived but had not been
taken into custody.
Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesperson Craig Harvey said on
Wednesday the woman's remains were found in the bed in a back
room and that the deterioration of the body made it difficult
to determine cause of death.
He said the woman was believed to have died in 2006.
Authorities went to the home on Monday evening after a
mortgage broker notified them that it would revert to a bank at
midnight after going through foreclosure.
The LA Daily News reported on its website that police
found Robert Hunt living at the trash-filled home with 26 cats,
three opossums and a raccoon.
California has been hit hard by the national wave of
foreclosures - when mortgage lenders repossess homes because
buyers cannot meet their payments - following a slump in the
US housing market and the credit market crunch.