Last month, Johannas Pope, 61, was found dead, wearing a white gown, and propped up in her chair in front of the TV. (Previous post here.) She had been placed there way back in 2004 by her caretaker. After a long investigation, the coroner announced yesterday that Johannas had died naturally of heart disease. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Pope told her caretaker, Kathy Painter, she didn't want to be buried because she believed she would come back to life…
(Coroner O'dell) Owens said Painter put on gloves and removed the maggots from Pope's body daily.
He said she used bug spray when they became too numerous to remove by hand. Investigators found 17 cans of bug spray in the house, he said.
"She really took care of (the body)," Owens said.
Painter even bought Pope new clothes just before officials discovered her body.
"She bought new clothes because she thought this was the time period she was coming back," Owens said.
Family members kept a window air conditioner running to keep Pope's body cool until about two months ago, when it broke, Owens said.
Link (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)
