Mid-Michigan man concealed wife's death, lived with corpse in living room for several months, police say

DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - A 54-year-old Mid-Michigan man was arrested this week after police said he hadn't told anyone his wife had died -- and he was found living with her dead body in his home.

Isabella County Sheriff Michael J. Main said deputies made the grim discovery at the home in the 1000 block of West Baseline Road in Deerfield Township, northwest of Mount Pleasant, on Tuesday.

According to Main, relatives of a 67-year-old woman contacted authorities with concerns about her well-being after not hearing from her for over two years.

Family members told deputies that there had been a falling out between them, but they had grown increasingly worried for her.

Deputies were dispatched to the woman's home where her 54-year-old husband answered the door. The man told authorities that the woman no longer lived here and he didn't have a current address for her, Main said.

The man was arrested on an outstanding warrant , Main continued, which was issued in October 2021 for a third offense DUI. Deputies entered the home after obtaining a search warrant and found the woman's body in the living room area.

The sheriff said the woman's body did not appear to be significantly decomposed and she may have died only a few months prior to being found. There were no obvious signs of trauma and the body was preserved where authorities discovered it, Main added.

The Michigan State Police Crime Lab responded to the scene to collect the body. An autopsy is scheduled to determine a a date, cause and manner of death.

Mains said it is possible that the 67-year-old woman died a natural death, but that remains to be seen. Her identity has been withheld while notification about her death is relayed to family members.

The woman's husband was lodged in jailed on the prior DUI charge. He now faces additional charges of financial fraud, failure to report a dead body and disinterment-mutilation of a dead body.