Police: Petaluma woman caught living with mother’s corpse for more than year

PETALUMA, Calif. - Police said they searched a woman's home during a welfare check and found she had been living with her mother's corpse, which had been dead for over a year.

The corpse was found in a home on the 200 block of Windsor Drive at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Officers saw more than 20 to 30 packages stacked up on the porch.

No one answered the door when the officers rang, and having heard concerns from the reporting party; officers decided to enter the house.

Police located the corpse in the living room and a second adult woman in a bedroom who claimed to be her daughter. Police said she had been dead for over a year. 

The daughter said her mother died in April 2021. She was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, police said.

Petaluma Police Department investigators initiated an unattended death investigation due to the unknown nature of the woman's death.

A search warrant was obtained, and the house was scoured, police said. The home has been "red tagged" due to the uninhabitable condition of the residence's interior, according to KTVU.

Police said there were no further suspects or safety concerns for the neighborhood.  

The identity of the dead woman has not been released.