Looters stole from Houston home with dead woman inside

Agnes Stanley, 89, drowned on Sunday when floodwaters rose inside her home
She was found by a neighbor floating in about four feet of water after she insisted on riding out the hurricane in her home
Police say Stanley’s home was one of three on her street targeted by looters
The elderly woman’s body was still floating inside when thieves broke in
Officials are now blaming at least 60 deaths on Hurricane Harvey

By Emily Crane For Dailymail.com

Published: 01:24 BST, 5 September 2017 | Updated: 01:24 BST, 5 September 2017

Thieves looted a flooded Houston home last week while the 89-year-old homeowner’s dead body was still floating inside.

Agnes Stanley drowned on Sunday when floodwaters rose inside her home in the Houston neighborhood of Meyerland.

The elderly woman was found by a neighbor floating in about four feet of water after she insisted on riding out the hurricane in her home.

Agnes Stanley, 89, drowned on Sunday when floodwaters rose inside her home (above) in the Houston neighborhood of Meyerland

Agnes Stanley, 89, drowned on Sunday when floodwaters rose inside her home (above) in the Houston neighborhood of Meyerland

The Houston Police Department say Stanley’s home was one of three on her street targeted by looters before the coroner could arrive and get into the property to retrieve her body.

Her neighbor Michele Poche was the one to find Stanley floating in the floodwaters, KTRK-TV reports.

She said she called Stanley’s son the morning of August 27 to get permission to break into her home to check on her.

‘We saw that she was under the water and we backed out and called 911,’ Poche said.

Police say Stanley's home was one of many in the Meyerland neighborhood (above) targeted by looters before the coroner could arrive and get into the property to retrieve her body

Police say Stanley’s home was one of many in the Meyerland neighborhood (above) targeted by looters before the coroner could arrive and get into the property to retrieve her body

Miguel Moncado, of Oxford Contractors, guts a flood-damaged home in the Meyerland neighborhood in Houston

Miguel Moncado, of Oxford Contractors, guts a flood-damaged home in the Meyerland neighborhood in Houston

‘We think that the water got too high and she may have drowned.’

Poche also confirmed Stanley’s home had been broken into.

‘She was still in there,’ Poche said. ‘The coroner was not able to get in until Thursday to pick her body up. Yeah, they broke into her house and stole stuff, too.’

Officials now blame at least 60 deaths on Harvey after it dumped several feet of rain on southeast Texas in a matter of days.

Many of those deaths confirmed in 11 Texas counties happened when people were caught in quickly rising floodwaters or lost control on water-logged roads, emergency management officials said.