80-year-old woman was eaten by her pet rottweiler and rats after she died alone in filthy, junk-filled house in Detroit
DETROIT: An elderly hoarder who died alone in her filthy Detroit home was eaten by her pet rottweiler and rats after her passing.
Sally Honeycheck, 80, died of natural causes while sitting on a lawn chair in her kitchen. She was last seen alive on November 12, 2018, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Linda Kajma, her cousin, grew worried about Sally's well being after she didn't hear from her for two weeks. She finally got to enter Sally's residence in the run down neighborhood on Joseph Campau near the Polish Yacht Club on December 1.
Speaking to the Free Press, Linda recalled a "Halloween skeleton" that sat on a lawn chair with no eyes, legs, or mouth, and just hair sitting on top of a skull.
She told the outlet she thought it was a prank at first, but fainted as soon as she realized those were the remains of Sally dressed in a red sweater and plaid pants.
"What the hell is wrong with them?" Linda remembered thinking upon seeing the corpse, believing it was a decoration left by Sally and her sisters in the squalid home.
On December 1, Linda was accompanied by a former cop friend of hers, who asked her if she'd found Sally.
"No, but they got a Halloween decoration in the kitchen," she responded.
When the police officer followed Linda to the kitchen, he confirmed the grim news to her.
"Linda, she’s right here," he said. "The dog has been eating on her."
Sally had died alone in her contaminated kitchen, sitting on a nylon blue lawn chair under a picture of The Last Supper. Meanwhile, her pet Rottweiller Jack was found dead in another room. He and rats in the home had chewed on her body for food.
The 80-year-old was surrounded by piles of greeting cards, empty sardine cans, innumerable take-out bags, and other garbage. The house was filled with broken appliances, rat-chewed mattresses, and feces.
The coroner's report concluded Sally had died of natural causes but suffered "extensive postmortem animal consumption of the body."
"No one should have to live like this. No one should die like this," Kajma told the Free Press.
On November 26, officers from the Detroit Police Department performed a welfare check on Sally but were unable to enter the residence because there were no signs of trouble.
Just weeks before Sally's death, her sister Lorraine had been taken to hospital and was placed on a ventilator. This meant she could not raise the alarm about her sisters' condition or whereabouts.
According to locals, they never crossed the threshold of Sally's home as it was filled with trash and feces a foot deep. They believe the house was clean and tidy until after Sally retired in 2003 and her mental health deteriorated.
"She was a very pleasant and wonderful person," said Elaine Tworek, a friend of Sally's who attended church events with her. "She went before her time I think."
