The Perfect Gift: Maid Service

JENNINGS, Mo. (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine whether mummified human remains found in a suburban St. Louis home are those of the mother of the home's hoarding elderly occupant, who died nearly three weeks earlier.

Police and a forensic investigator with the St. Louis County medical examiner's office tell the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it's unknown how long the remains had been in the Jennings home.

The home's occupant, Gladys Bergmeier, was 75 when she was found dead in her bed Feb. 7. A relative found the mummified remains of an elderly woman weeks later.

 This isn't the first time this has happened.  One has to wonder what would be comforting in keeping bodies (preserved or otherwise) in the home.  When death is the subject, reactions can be very different and very personal.  Still, I admit I am curious to hear the results if they are able to determine the identity of the corpse.