Houston woman found dead in a wall had fell through attic

Mary Cerruti, 61, was reported missing by her concerned neighbors in Houston, Texas back in February 2015. Her remains were discovered inside the home in March last year

Skeletal remains found inside the walls of a Texas home belong to the former homeowner who apparently fell through the attic and became trapped.

Mary Cerruti, 61, was reported missing by her concerned neighbors in Houston back in February 2015.

But her remains were only discovered in March last year after her 1930s cottage was put up for sale at a foreclosure auction and new tenants moved in.

The couple who rented the property from the new owner discovered the remains in a wall space after first noticing a broken floorboard in the attic when they were about to move in.

Preliminary autopsy results last summer indicated the remains were that of Cerruti. 

The badly decomposed skeleton was found with a pair of glasses and shoes. 

A spokeswoman for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said on Wednesday there wasn’t enough physical evidence to determine Cerruti’s exact cause or manner of death. 

Her remains were only discovered in March last year after her 1930s cottage was put up for sale at a foreclosure auction and new tenants moved in

Her remains were only discovered in March last year after her 1930s cottage was put up for sale at a foreclosure auction and new tenants moved in

It appears that Cerruti ‘accidentally fell from her attic’, the spokeswoman said.

Investigators had tried to match DNA from the remains to Cerruti’s cousins but were unable to confirm her identity. 

They were only able to conclusively determine the remains belonged to Cerruti after comparing a photo of her indented chin and square jaw to the skeleton, the Houston Chronicle reports. 

After Cerruti was reported missing, mail started piling up in front of her home and a window broke. Six dead cats were reportedly found inside the home before the property was sold.  

When police were called to the home last year by the new tenants, they had to make a larger hole in the wall in order to reach the bones.

‘The new homeowners were a little worried because they have a body in the house,’ Houston Police Detective Jason Fay said at the time. 

‘Was it someone who was killed and stuffed in the wall, or did they accidentally pass away by ending up in the wall?’

After Cerruti was reported missing, mail started piling up in front of her home and a window broke. The land around the house was also left to grow wild (pictured above)

After Cerruti was reported missing, mail started piling up in front of her home and a window broke. The land around the house was also left to grow wild (pictured above)

 



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