#6 Postby Miss Mary » Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:10 am
Another article...Madisonville is a suburb of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Enquirer
January, 10, 2005
Woman sat dead at home 2½ years
Family kept TV on for mummified grandma
By Christy Arnold
Enquirer staff writer
MADISONVILLE - Johannas Pope didn't want to be buried, believing that she would come back to life.
Pope died at her home here at age 61 on Aug. 29, 2003. A towel had been placed around her neck to keep her cool on that 87-degree summer day. She wore a white gown while sitting in a chair in an upstairs room, in front of a television that played as family members went about their lives downstairs.
She remained there, according to her wishes, for almost 2½ years.
"Don't show my body when I'm dead," Hamilton County's coroner, Dr. O'dell Owens, said Monday when explaining Pope's wishes. "Don't bury me. I'm coming back."
Owens called a news conference Monday to explain Pope's demise, the unusual state of her body and how family members regulated heating and air conditioning as they attempted to preserve her remains.
Cincinnati police found the mummified grandmother Wednesday in her two-story, peach-colored home in the 5500 block of Davies Place.
Living in the 75-year-old house with the corpse were her daughter, Lisa Pope, a granddaughter who was born three months after her death, and Pope's caretaker, Kathy Painter, investigators say.
Family members are not being charged with a crime at this point.
Efforts to reach them Monday were unsuccessful. No one came to the door at the house or answered repeated telephone calls.
Only a handful of loved ones knew Pope had died and that her body remained upstairs, Owens said.
Family members kept a window air conditioner running to keep Pope's body cool - until about a month ago, when it broke, Owens said. Heating vents were covered during winter.
Life continued as Pope had wanted.
Friends and relatives who visited were told Pope was upstairs, ill, Owens said. Some yelled "hello" up the stairs.
The deception lasted 2½ years.
Pope's sister, Deborah Gaston, hadn't seen her sister in years, Owens said. Gaston called Cincinnati police Wednesday and reported a dead body at the home.
Inside the home, behind a basket blocking a door, police found Pope's remains.
"Standing outside, one could smell death," Owens said.
Some police wore masks because of the odor, Owens said.
"People who worked here have never seen this before," Owens said.
Pope's sister wasn't the first person to call police.
A woman from Pope's church called police on Halloween, after hearing third-hand that Pope was dead inside the home.
Police investigated, but they didn't have enough information to go into the house, Owens said.
The call from Pope's sister was enough, and police found Pope's body dressed in the white gown, seated in the chair and in front of the television, which was turned on, Owens said.
Pope had lupus, but it was unknown Monday whether that contributed to her death.
The coroner said he found no signs of abuse or foul play. Little body tissue remained, making it difficult to determine the cause of death, he said.
Owens has collected some tissue to test for chemicals and diseases.
He said he might never know how Pope died because of the body's condition.
Owens' office is working with police and prosecutors to determine whether any crimes were committed.
The caretaker and family members did not benefit in any way by keeping Pope's body.
"There was no money involved," Owens said. "There was no personal gain."
Pope's body did not appear to be abused, Owens said.
Neighbors had no idea a dead woman was a resident on their street.
"You mean to tell me the whole time I've owned this house, she's been in there?" said Jeff Sklar, who bought a house nine months ago a few doors from Pope's.
Shon Ward's relatives live in several homes along Davies Place.
"It's scary," Ward said. "That's ridiculous. I never expected it. ... I never suspected anything. It's a quiet street."
0 likes
