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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Some are questioning issue of Detroit mummy voting from garage.
2014-03-12
Voting records are raising questions amid an investigation into the discovery of a woman's mummified body in the garage of a foreclosed metro bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
 home.

The body found last Wednesday in Pontiac is that of Pia Farrenkopf -- according to her sister, Paula Logan. Authorities investigating the case haven't released her name, but they have said that the woman apparently died in 2008 at the age of 49.

According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, records show Farrenkopf as voting in the November 2010 gubernatorial election. Officials say, however, that it may represent an administrative error. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard says the information must be checked out.

Farrenkopf's body was found March 5 in the back seat of her Jeep Liberty, parked in the attached garage of her home in the 1600 block of Savanna, near Walton Boulevard and Silver Lake Road in Pontiac. The discovery was made just after 5 p.m. by a contractor who was working at the home, which is going through foreclosure.

According to police, the electricity was still on in the house, but there was no heat. The home also has a large amount what appears to be black mold, police said, and is a HAZMAT situation.

The Oakland County Sheriff's Department is investigating the circumstances behind Farrenkopf's death. An autopsy didn't reveal any signs of trauma, police said, and a cause of death is pending. Investigators said the Jeep keys were in the ignition, which was in the off position -- likely ruling out the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Neighbors described Farrenkopf as a German immigrant who generally kept to herself and traveled frequently for work, often for weeks at a time, so no one thought anything of her absence. Some said it was probably six years since they last saw the woman, while others just assumed she had moved.

Police say Farrenkopf lived in the home by herself and had all of her bills -- including her mortgage and utilities -- automatically withdrawn from her checking account. Once her account was depleted and the mortgage payments stopped, the home went into foreclosure. Mail also never piled up at the house because Farrenkopf apparently picked it up at the post office.
Posted by:Besoeker

#10  Airandee - they may HAVE come a-knockin', but nobody answered.
Posted by: Glenmore   2014-03-12 19:21  

#9  It appears you can go at least 5 years without filing or paying taxes before someone comes a knocking.

No work, no income generation other than interest on a savings account which would probably be negative due to covering several checking withdraws for bills. Again, 2008-9, a lot of people lost jobs. Any interest at the fed/state/local level to track the number of non-filers when no W2 form report shows up from prior employment in that period?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-03-12 15:44  

#8  Not in Georgia.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-03-12 10:58  

#7  It appears you can go at least 5 years without filing or paying taxes before someone comes a knocking.
Posted by: Airandee   2014-03-12 10:56  

#6  Apparently the women took regular trips, so she would by routine have her mail held enough that the breakdown sorters wouldn't find a hold unusual. After a hold period (usually 30 days) the Post Office simply returns undelivered mail to senders. Hand stamped, plop, and out of the facility. No questions asked because enough people pack up and leave without notifying the Post Office all the time. The most important mail would have been those bills, but they were all shifted to autopay, to include the mortgage which would cover the insurance and taxes on the property.
She probably had the standard overdraft protection that shifted draining from checking to savings to cover bills.
If she died in 2008, that meant she went before the big housing implosion. So when the funds ran out for any mortgage, her property would be tied up with all those consolidations and proceedings with hundreds of thousands, eating up more time for processing the delinquencies in payments.

The interesting question this raises is how many 'autopay' dead are out there among the Social Security/Pension crowd. Money flows out and never stops. We get the stories about family members not reporting deaths to keep the checks coming, but there is no accounting in the system to determine this. Just imagine when one retires and moves overseas to compound that dilemma of verification.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-03-12 09:42  

#5  What did she do for a living (no pun intended)? She clearly had some means to have back account big enough to pay the bills for 60 plus months. Who keeps that kind of money in their checking account? How about the PO box? Pre-paid also? What about 6 years of mail filling up the flipping box? At what point does the Mail Box Express guy say something ain't right here? Her sister never stops by to say hi or share some marzipan? Weird story.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy   2014-03-12 09:08  

#4  "it may represent an administrative error"

Snickering was heard in the background...
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2014-03-12 09:04  

#3  "said it was probably six years since they last saw the woman"
Yeah, that sort of follows, don't it? If, on the other hand, it was, say, three years, that needs to be looked in to.
Posted by: ed in texas   2014-03-12 07:13  

#2  The body found last Wednesday in Pontiac is that of Pia Farrenkopf -- according to her sister, Paula Logan.

We've been missing her card at Weihnachten, but didn't want to pry.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-03-12 02:09  

#1  "others just assumed she had moved" I made a surprise visit to my high school class reunion 42 years after I moved out of town between 10th and 11th grades. One of my classmates told that at the time there was a rumor I had grown my hair long like the Beatles & had been expelled. That was more interesting than the truth.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2014-03-12 00:14  

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