Woman Who Died in '03 Left in Front of TV

**Electra1978** · 01-10-06, 10:28 AM

Woman Who Died in '03 Left in Front of TV

By TERRY KINNEY, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 10, 5:14 AM ET

The mummified body of a woman who didn't want to be buried was found in a chair in front of her television set 2 1/2 years after her death, authorities said.

Johannas Pope had told her live-in caregiver that she didn't want to be buried and planned on returning after she died, Hamilton County Coroner O'Dell Owens said Monday.

Pope died in August 2003 at age 61. Her body was found last week in the upstairs of her home on a quiet street. Some family members continued to live downstairs, authorities said. No one answered the doorbell at Pope's home Monday afternoon.

It could take weeks to determine Pope's cause of death because little organ tissue was available for testing, Owens said.

An air conditioner had been left running upstairs, and that allowed the body to slowly mummify, he said. The machine apparently stopped working about a month ago, and the body began to smell.

"Standing outside, one could smell death," Owens said.

Police went to the house last Wednesday after receiving a call from a relative who hadn't seen Pope in years. They found a staircase behind a door blocked by a basket and climbed to the second floor, where they found the body.

It was not clear if any crimes were committed, Owens said.

Authorities did not identify the caregiver, a women in her 40s who apparently lived in the home with Pope, Pope's daughter and her 3-year-old granddaughter.

"The caregiver is not someone you'd think was from another planet or really seems off the wall — (she's) a pretty normal kind of person," he said. "But I think out of loyalty, friendship and love of her friend, (she) decided to keep the body at home."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060110/...DltBHNlYwM3MTY

**Pudge** · 01-10-06, 10:39 AM

EWWWWWWWWW.........hope the poor guys who had to go to that had some Vicks!

**Vendetta** · 01-10-06, 11:03 AM

Thats what them COPs marathons will do to you. You know you have seen the episodes before but you just cant turn it off........even to be buried

**kdm0409** · 01-10-06, 11:09 AM

Thats so disgusting....How could you live in a house with a body upstairs?? even with an airconditioner thats still freaky....

Thats what them COPs marathons will do to you. You know you have seen the episodes before but you just cant turn it off........even to be buried

COPS till you drop!!! They're still good even if you have seen them numerous times

**kdm0409** · 01-10-06, 03:05 PM

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Toronto woman, not content with having merely a dusty demise, has become the first Canadian to donate her body for public display after she dies.

The 30-year-old mutual fund worker said the "Body Worlds" exhibition at the Ontario Science Center, which displays real human bodies, would fulfill her desire to have a posthumous purpose.

"I wanted to donate my body to science, but do something a little bit different, so this was perfect," said Stephanie Chapu, citing the educational value of the exhibits.

"Being buried or cremated -- why get rid of your body that way when you can do something else and be useful?"

Chapu said community reaction has been mixed, with friends and family mostly supportive, though some have raised religious or moral objections.

"They have the right to think that, but they should also respect my decision," she said. "I understand it's not for everybody."

More than 16 million people worldwide have viewed the traveling exhibition, organized by the German Institute for Plastination, which houses more than 6,000 donated cadavers, a spokeswoman said.

The exhibits are preserved through plastination, a technique where water and fat in the soft tissue are replaced with plastic polymers.

Whole body specimens are displayed, which reveal bones, muscle, tendons, nerves, blood vessels and organs. Among the exhibits are embryos, fetuses and a pregnant woman who died with her fetus in her womb.

"I like that you can finally see what we look like on the inside in a very tasteful manner. I don't think it's disrespectful at all to the donors," said Chapu.

The exhibition has stirred controversy in the past, with German media alleging some of the bodies were those of Chinese execution victims. The organizers have denied the reports.

Maybe they can donate her body to this place?!?!