Woman Hid Dead Mother's Corpse In Freezer To Continue Collecting Her Disability Checks

A woman allegedly hid her dead mother’s body in a freezer for weeks so she could continue collecting the elderly woman’s disability checks in Florida.

Michele Hoskins, 64, has been charged with failing to report the death of her 93-year-old mother Marie and tampering with evidence after she concealed her dead mother’s remains in a basement freezer at their home at 107 Paddock Street in order to continue collecting the elderly woman's disability checks, Daily News reported.

The fraud finally came to light after her neighbors, who were concerned about not seeing Marie for an extended period of time, contacted the police and asked for a welfare check at the home.

Following this, officers made multiple attempts to contact Marie and the residents in the house. However, since they were unsuccessful in contacting her, they managed to get a key to the residence from an out-of-town family member, and entered the home. When the officers entered the house, they found Michele who told law enforcement that she had not seen her mother in “some time.”

After the authorities checked the rest of the home in an attempt to locate Marie, they discovered a deceased body inside a large freezer in the garage. Following this gruesome find, the officers obtained a search warrant for the residence on April 29 to retrieve Marie’s body and other evidence, Law & Crime reported.

During the execution of the search warrant on the property, a heavily soiled bed mattress was located concealed in thick brush and covered by cut palm tree branches in the backyard of the house.

Meanwhile, Michele voluntarily came to the Sebastian Police Department for questioning. During the interrogation, she eventually confessed to the police that she found her mother deceased in her bedroom and that the elderly woman had died of natural causes. However, about two weeks after her death, Michele purchased a deep freezer to conceal her mother’s death, spurred by the concern that she would no longer be able to receive the 93-year-old's disability benefits.

The officers obtained an arrest warrant against Michele Hoskins on Thursday, July 7.

She is currently being held in the Indian River County Jail on a US$10,000 bond and faces a count each of failure to report a death, and tampering with or destroying evidence.