North Country Gazette

Mummified Body Found, Daughter Couldn’t Afford Burial

Posted on Tuesday, 24 of March , 2009 at 7:50 pm

SEBASTIAN, FLA—A 61-year-old day care teacher told police that she kept her mother’s mummified body in a bedroom of their Florida residence for over six years because she couldn’t afford funeral expenses.

Penelope Jordan was arrested Monday after police officers went to the home after Indian River Animal Control had received a complaint about nuisance cats. When an animal control officer visited the Jordan property, he found the front door open but no one home. Animal control called police to investigate if a burglary had occurred.

Jordan told police that her mother, Timmie Jordan, born in 1913, was living in Melbourne but she couldn’t provide an address. When she allowed police into the residence, officers found the decaying remains of her mother in a bedroom. According to an arrest affidavit, Jordan told police that her mother had died in 2003 at the age of 90 from natural causes.

Police said that Jordan admitted that since her mother’s death, she has cashed her mother’s Social Security checks which totaled $60,000 since 2003. She has been charged with grand theft and fraud and is being held in the Indian County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

According to police, an autopsy performed Tuesday indicated no evidence of foul play and the cause of death will be attributed to natural causes. The body has been sent to the University of Florida to undergo review. 3-24-09

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