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Home Owner Finds Remains Of Previous Resident Behind Wall

Home Owner Finds Remains Of Previous Resident Behind Wall

The woman had been reported as missing back in 2015

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

The remains of a woman who had been missing for three years have been found behind a wall in the property she used to live at.

The shocked new resident made the grim discovery of Mary Stewart Cerruti's bones at her home in Houston, Texas. She vanished in 2015 and, until now, the whereabouts of the 62-year-old were unknown.

It's believed the woman fell through the attic and became stuck in the crawlspace between her walls.

Houston Police Department

Houston police department have shared photos of the remains.

The Harris County Coroner's Office identified the remains as belonging to Mary.

Detective Jason Fay told KHOU: "My family even asked me about it when they saw me on the news that day I went out on the case.

"They asked me, even now, have you identified this person? I'm like, 'No. I'm still waiting.' But now I can finally say, 'Yeah, we finally were able to identify this person.'"

Houston Police Department

Tricia Bentley, a spokesperson for the medical examiner told PEOPLE: "In the attic, there was a broken board that led down to the space. Law enforcement thinks she may have been up in the attic and fell through the attic floor.

"It is a one story home with an attic so she was found on the first floor. There was some space between the walls where a person could fit.

Houston Police Department

"The cause of death is listed as undetermined because the remains were skeletonised. There is no evidence to say how exactly she died."

With Mary 'missing' the property went into foreclosure, and was a bought by a family who made the discovery this month. As well as bones, clothing and a pair of glasses were also found behind the wall.

A neighbour Roxanne Davis, told KHOU: "The gap in the boards appears to be maybe eight inches, and Mary was certainly very frail, but it's hard for me to believe that a person could step on a board, and their entire body would go down a crack that is two inches wider than a dollar bill.

"There were a couple hundred pairs of eyes on her house at all times, and anybody could look down and see that she was alone, she was elderly, she was frail and she was vulnerable, flat-out vulnerable."

Sources: PEOPLE; KHOU

Featured Image Credit: Credit: Houston Police Department

Topics: Texas, US News