A Michigan woman kept the corpse of her dead friend and roommate in their home for nearly two years because she did not wish to be alone, according to a report.
When police officers visited the Jackson home of Linda Chase on July 6, the 71-year-old told them that she had kept the mummified body of her roommate, Charles Zigler, in a chair, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported. Chase told the newspaper that she often talked to her silent companion and watched NASCAR races with him. She said she kept his corpse dressed and clean.
"I didn't want to be alone,” Chase said. “He was the only guy who was ever nice to me."
Zigler's body was discovered after concerned relatives called police. Zigler's son Walter said he had made several attempts to visit his ailing father but was refused entry by Chase.
“That wasn’t right to leave him lay like that,” he told the Jackson Citizen Patriot.
A medical examiner determined that Zigler died of natural causes sometime near the end of December 2010, the paper reported.
Chase told the Jackson Citizen Patriot she continued to cash Zigler’s benefit checks after his death, and expected to go to prison. Police are reportedly investigating the case and have not yet filed charges.
