HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut woman described by
police as an apparent hoarder was crushed to death when a floor piled
with clutter collapsed into her basement, state medical officials said
Tuesday.
The state chief medical examiner’s office said 66-year-old Beverly Mitchell died of accidental and
traumatic asphyxia.
Mitchell’s
body was found Saturday as crews used a backhoe to remove debris from
her home in Cheshire. She may have been dead for more than a week,
police said.
Town officials, meanwhile, are determining whether the home is still structurally sound.
Cheshire
Fire Chief Jack Casner said no decision had been made on whether to
tear down the house. He said building official deemed the house "unfit
for human occupancy," and have boarded it up with plywood.
Authorities
have said they believe the first floor collapsed under the weight of
all the clutter, which was stacked as high as the ceiling in some
places.
"There is several feet of clutter throughout the entire house, anywhere from 4 to 8 feet high,"
Casner said.
Casner said there were holes in the roof that may have leaked water onto the floor and weakened it.
"I was surprised with what I witnessed," he said. "It’s unfortunate that someone was in
those conditions."
A
postal carrier called police Thursday to ask for a welfare check
because Mitchell’s mail had been piling up for at least a week,
authorities said. Police did go into the home Thursday, but said they
didn’t find anyone and thought Mitchell wasn’t home.
Authorities
didn’t even notice that the floor had collapsed Thursday because all
they saw was ceiling-high clutter along the walls and waist-high clutter
in other areas, police Sgt. Kevin O’Donnell said.
It wasn’t until
Friday that officials discovered the first floor had caved in. After
making sure the building was safe to enter, officials cut a hole in the
side of the house and began removing debris with a backhoe. Authorities
found Mitchell’s body on Saturday afternoon.
Casner said officials
still haven’t been able to find Mitchell’s relatives and are taking out
ads in local newspapers looking for them.
O’Donnell said officers
checked on Mitchell’s welfare many times over the past several years
and offered her help from social service providers, but she refused
every time. He said local officials had no idea how cluttered the home
was until they entered it on Thursday.