Man finds skeletal remains of three people after buying ‘sight unseen’ home at auction

A man who bought a house ‘sight unseen’ at a foreclosure auction was horrified to walk into the property for the first time and discover the skeletal remains of three bodies inside.

Edward Marchion purchased the four-bedroom home in Burlington, Connecticut for $525,000.

The property, which came with two-acres of land, a hot tub, and patio, seemed like a bargain as it was valued at $650,000, the Wall Street Journal reports.

However, one condition of the foreclosure sale was that bidders had to buy it without taking a look inside and in ‘as is condition’.

After attracting a flurry of bids, the house was eventually sold to Marchion in June.

But upon entering the property for the first time, Marchion made the grim discovery of skeletal remains and called the cops.

The skeletal remains of three people were found inside (Google Maps)

"A new homebuyer, who purchased the structure ‘as is’ at a foreclosure auction, discovered skeletal remains of three individuals at the home," the Connecticut State Police said in a statement.

Two of the bodies have since been identified as Sally Anne Cash, who would have turned 54 this week, and her son Brian, who would have turned 23 this month.

The Connecticut Police Department has said the third body is yet to be identified and is still undergoing DNA testing through the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

As yet, it’s unclear how they died or how long they had laid inside the house until they were discovered.

Police have said ‘there is no indication of anything suspicious and no indication of any criminal aspect’.

And added: “This appears to be an isolated incident and there is no danger to the public at this time.”

Burlington Volunteer Fire Department Emergency Management Director Michael J. Boucher told CT Insider that firefighters were called out to test the property for carbon monoxide after the remains were found, and it’s since been reported that the tests proved negative.

The home was sold at a foreclosure auction last month (WFSBC 3)

Records show that Cash bought the house with her husband Paul in 2019.

Court records revealed that foreclosure proceedings on the property started on 1 August 2025, around six months after the owners' mortgage provider had written to them telling them their mortgage was in default.

That same month, state marshal Grant S. Carragher attempted to serve papers to the owners but wasn’t able to do so.

Speaking to CT Insider, he said that he had struggled to find the home, partly down to how overgrown the garden had become, which obscured the property's driveway.

"I had to climb over the balcony to get to the door because the trees were overgrown," Carragher said.

"I couldn't get into the pathway."

He said he knocked on the door but no one answered and claimed a neighbour told him they hadn’t seen the owners ‘in years’.

Local resident Matt Turner told the Wall Street Journal he couldn’t believe no one had been sent out to inspect the property before the sale.

“It seemed like the type of thing where somebody would go into the house and at least make sure there are no dead bodies,” he said.