Remains found in condemned home

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—Police were called to a home on Lorelei Drive in North Kingstown on Monday after human remains were found amid piles of debris and garbage.

Workers cleaning out the house for its new owners found the remains of body believed to be a middle-aged woman.

Police reported the previous homeowner missing in June 2008. They would not release her name.

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The medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that preliminary results do not suggest any foul play.

Police reports state she was last seen in early April 2008 at the main post office in Providence where she worked.

Police told NBC 10 that it’s clear the body had been in the house for some time. Neighbors said at times there was a strong odor coming from the home.

The town’s building inspector said that one time he went to the house after it was condemned in June, something just didn’t seem right. He said he called the police and fire departments, but they didn’t find anything.

Neighbors and the lawyer for the missing homeowner told NBC 10 that authorities did go into the house last year wearing protective suits.

But both the lawyer and the building inspector said that there was so much junk in the house, almost up to the ceiling in some spots, that it was extremely difficult for anyone to search inside and that it would have been easy to miss signs of a dead body.

The town was trying to get the house razed, but it was put on hold when the owner disappeared.