Last year, Wells Fargo foreclosed on and auctioned off a modest townhouse on Cape Canaveral in Florida. The owner hadn’t made any mortgage payments or used any electricity in over a year, and neighbors didn’t recall seeing her. Her possessions and car were still in the house. Did she walk away from her mortgage and leave town entirely? Not quite. The house’s new owner found something Wells Fargo’s inspectors and property managers had missed when they inventoried the contents of the house and garage: the homeowner’s mummified remains in the front passenger seat of her car. Her cause of death remains unknown.

This is more than yet another head-shaking blog post about a hasty foreclosure by an overwhelmed bank. Based on public records, Internet postings, and interviews with friends and family, the St. Petersburg Times pieced together the last few years of the 57-year-old woman’s life. It’s worth taking the time to read: a haunting story about debilitating mental illness and our modern tendency to isolate ourselves from our neighbors.

A Brevard woman disappeared, but never left home [St. Petersburg Times]
Dead woman discovered after months in foreclosed home [USA Today]

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