Seven people in Georgia broke into a dead man’s home and lived alongside his mummified body, according to investigators.
Cobb County police told WSB-TV that the man who lived in the house was 71 years old when he passed away, but admitted they were unsure how long the squatters had been living in the house.
Detective Daniel Goduto said the elderly man’s remains were found “in the bathroom,” adding that “there’s only one bathroom in the house.”
Investigators said the suspects forged checks in the man’s name and stole his credit card.
A neighbor who spoke to WSB-TV said it was “just sick” that squatters would take advantage of the dead, adding she had no idea the man had died because he generally kept to himself.
Despite his seemingly solitary existence, it was still a police wellness check — which usually are conducted at the behest of a loved one or a neighbor — that revealed the squatters.
“We responded for the death and the very next day we responded to the burglary — within 24 hours we had everyone in custody,” Goduto told the broadcaster.
The detective said the home had been turned inside out by the squatters while they searched for any items of value. In addition to anything they took from inside his house, they also allegedly stole his car.
“It’s unfortunate they preyed on somebody who was obviously deceased and took his belongings and used his money,” the detective said.
Police tried to find members of the victim’s family, but learned that they were all dead.
They have not determined the man’s cause of death.
There have been several newsworthy squatting incidents to come out of Cobb County, Georgia in the last year.
WSB-TV reported on another incident in which a man repeatedly squatted at the same location, resulting in police increasing their patrols near the house specifically to stop him.
Cobb County police told the broadcaster that, by March, one of its precincts had already handled 10 squatter cases.
Sergeant Eric Smith told WSB-TV that some squatters will actually change the locks on vacant home and then try to rent the empty house to an unsuspecting third party.
