Police: Gilbert homeowner says body is her dead mother

A Gilbert homeowner told police that the dead body found in her house Saturday is that of her 95-year-old mother, who passed away in 2010.

Sgt. Jesse Sanger, a Gilbert police spokesman, said Tuesday that detectives were told by Janet Delatorre, 60, that her mother died in September of 2010 but she never reported her death.

"She told investigators she did not report the death because the conditions of the house were so bad she was afraid she would be accused of elder abuse or neglect," Sanger wrote. He said police were told by Delatorre that her mother was 95 years old at the time of her death.

Sanger said police have not positively identified the body through an examination at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office and have not verified the information provided by Delatorre.

"If the information provided by Delatorre is determined to be factual the possibility exists she could be charged with failing to report the death," a misdemeanor, Sanger wrote.

The bizarre case unfolded Saturday when a locksmith and a real-estate agent arrived at the house in the 500 block of East Leah Lane and went to the back door to change a lock. After finding the door ajar, they entered the house, which they believed had been abandoned, and found a pet bird in a bird cage. The bird had been provided food and water and appeared to have been cared for by an unknown person, but the house was full of debris.

The pair decided to call police, who arrived at the house and found the dead body in an advanced stage of decay inside a bedroom.

Sanger said on Monday that the body could have been there for months or even years and that it appeared to be mummified.

The real-estate agent, Danette Earnest, was working as a special commissioner with Maricopa County Superior Court to arrange for the house to be sold. The house's landscaping was dead and it appeared to be in need of new paint and other repairs. The house is in an upscale central Gilbert neighborhood where the other homes appeared well maintained.