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WLNS-TV
Undated photo of Charles Zigler, whose mummified body was found in his friend's home on July 6.
Police in Jackson, Mich., are investigating why a 72-year-old woman kept the body of a friend in her house for more than a year and a half after he died, reportedly cleaning him and watching TV with him.
Police found the mummified body of Charles Zigler, 67, on Friday, covered with blankets in a living room recliner, in the home of his long-time friend Linda Chase, according to local media reports.
"He just went to sleep," Chase told WILX-TV.
Officers went to Chase’s house after a family member became concerned for his welfare and called police, Lt. Chris Simpson told mlive.com.
It's unclear why the family member, who was not identified, waited so long to call. Simpson did not immediately return a telephone call to msnbc.com on Wednesday for comment.
An autopsy determined Zigler died of natural causes -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- around Christmas 2010, according to the medical examiner.
Chase admitted to police that she cashed Zigler's Social Security checks and kept his body, mlive.com reported.
Police are investigating and will submit a report to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office for review and possible charges, including fraud, Simpson said, according to mlive.com.
The prosecutor’s office said Wednesday the police were still reviewing the case.
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Chase acknowledged to reporters she should have called authorities when Zigler died, but said she wasn’t ready to let go and didn’t want to be alone.
“That’s morbid what I did. It really is. It’s horrible,” she told WLNS-TV.
She called Zigler “my best friend” and said she could tell him “anything.”
“I knew I should have called the ambulance. I know that. I know that in my heart. I didn’t do it to be evil,” she told WLNS.
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For more than a year after he died, Chase cleaned him, talked to him and watched NASCAR races on TV with him, mlive.com reported.
Walter “Wally” Zigler said his father had been ill for years. He had emphysema and used an oxygen tank to breathe, the son told mlive.com.
Walter Zigler learned of his father’s death on Tuesday.
“That wasn’t right to leave him lay like that,” he told mlive.com.
Walter Zigler, who lives in Jackson, said his father had worked for years in a Jackson shop and received Social Security and pension checks and veteran benefits. He said he tried more than once to visit his father but Chase “wouldn’t let me see him,” mlive.com reported.
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Leave a Comment:
Hmmm. Were the social security checks the real motivation?
I would think her mentally ill if she wasn't defrauding the government by cashing his checks.
While I think that this was wrong, I have to say that I would love to be mummified and kept in a friend or family's home, in lieu of the traditional plot burial or cremation. Imagine their horror when the hidden, time-stamped recording of my voice suddenly erupted from my sarcophogus:
"Help! Help! It's dark in here! Somebody let me out!"
I thought she was just a little odd, and very lonely, until I also read about the checks. That changed my opinion.
She probably didn't even think about them. They were likely sharing costs and money for years, with her taking care of him. She would just cash or deposit them as a matter of course.
You have to wonder about his family, who had not even talked to him for 18 months. She cared more about him than they ever did.
When he died, I would not doubt she just went over the edge, not knowing how she'll be able to continue without the friend she has had for years. I hope she gets the help she undoubtedly needs.
I think Linda is a noble, loving friend of Wally. I think she could star in a Stephen King movie.
How can you tell if your wife is dead?
The sex is the same but the dishes pile up.
katethebratt? Why are you soo jealous of Linda? She loved Wally
That's one of the saddest things I've read online. She sounds like a desperately lonely, forgotten woman who lost her only friend in the world. Yes she cashed his checks, and that wasn't right, but I'd bet she did it more to have SOMEbody to talk to (at).
I wonder if she made him a plate for dinner too? She probably had conversations with him and all. Maybe even hopped on his stiffie from time to time.....
Times are tough. I would vote "not guilty" if I were on a jury.
lolololololololololol......she simply could not live without him......I'm sure is it was mostly financial, but she's got you snowed with her "helpless" act. Having said that, I say, good for her! No one else in America was going to make sure she was taken care of.........The NAZI's of the previous administration and the RGA made sure of that.
He was my best friend and so were his SS checks! Score!
She could have got rid of the body if this was just about the checks. Instead she left him on the chair for anyone to see had they entered her house. You have to feel sorry for her that nobody came to see her, in a year and a half, because they would have seen the body in the chair. This entire situation is sad yet strange and desperate. I do hope she gets the help she needs.
Completely agreed. She couldn't live without him? Maybe it's more she couldn't live without his money. I was in her corner until I read she was cashing his checks, and while I feel pity for her in losing her friend I think his memory is tarnished a bit with her actions in taking his money and committing fraud.
It's also entirely possible that she kept him around because he was such a tool to her when he was alive that she enjoyed telling him whatever she wanted to, and she enjoyed doing whatever she wanted to in front of him, etc., now that he was gone......just sayin'.....
I wonder what would make someone post some crap like that.
The guy was dead for 18 months and his son just found out about? Where the hell has he been????
Some kids this guy had. They have no right to start whinning now. As for the ss checks, so what, she deserved them. You try keeping a corpse in your living room for that long, bathing and taking care of it. Seems like the ONLY one who really cared about him. And I love to see someone "screw" the govt. for once, it is usually the other way around.
Cashing his "social security" check was the motive, not the fact she didn't want to let him go. BS. If she had no dishonest motive she wouldn't have cashed the checks!
One comment said she probably didn't even give a thought about cashing the checks and just part of her routine. I bet she remembered each time she forged his name. Some one else said she "deserved" it. Well, then we would all "deserve" our friend's checks when they die.
If it had been about the money, she would've thrown his body in a box and hid it in the back room. I'm sure at some point, it smelled awful, but she continued to clean him, sit near him and talk to him. This seriously indicates an emotional/mental issue connected to her actions. I'm sure the money didn't hurt, but as previously stated she probably had a routine of cashing his checks to take care of the household bills just as she may have done when he was alive. Yes, she should be punished because she obviously knew better BUT I don't think her true intent was evil. Poor lady just didn't want to be alone.
But, then again, I guess if they go ahead and send her to prison, then she won't have to worry about being lonely anymore. :-(
Didn't her house reek? Not sure how she could stand the smell?
Okay several things here....My mother had COPD and she was on oxygen. There were people at her house all the time delivering oxygen and just checking on her. Her doctor saw her every 3 months or more often if she was having a problem. She had medication she inhaled and someone came and dropped that off because she was on Medicare. Why was this man dead for 18 months and no one came to see him? If he had Medicaid he has to go in once a year to recertify. What about his medications they had to be refilled. Didn't anyone check to see why he wasn't using them..My mother had 8 she took daily along with the breathe treatments...and the smell! Lord how did she stand the smell...?
Where will this poor woman go now that she doesn't have his income? Jail might be kinder then leaving her to starve to death alone.
She could have probably gotten assistance from Social Services in the way of food stamps. And why isn't she getting a disability check or some type check from Social Security? There are places that help people in her situation. I think she just did not want to let go. My husband had COPD and was on oxygen for seven years. I fixed his breakfast and gave him his meds in the morining before I left for work, and had my daughter make sure he had his lunch and check on him. I called him at least 4 times a day and talked to him to be sure he was okay. And even though I worked until about three months before he died, I still miss him and have a hard time letting go--probably never will totally let go. But I did not want to keep him around after he died. I just visit his grave site. I think she is confused. I feel sorry for her. Maybe she needed a computer so she could communicate.
"...but said she wasn't ready to let go..." Let go of those SS checks, that is. If he's still in the house he's still receivin 'em .... raaat, sharuff?
the full quote : "I didn't do it to be evil........ I did it to be greedy."
Now she has to pay back all the fraudulently collected money. They will take it out of her SS or other benefits, if she gets any.
I too think she did it partially for the Social security checks. Leaving a dead body out in the open and cleaning it makes me think she really did care though. With the incompetence of government bureaucracy one could easily get away with not reporting a death and still collecting checks.
OMG....how could someone live with a dead body in their house for 18 months? Didn't the smell become unbearable? Didn't anyone else (neighbors, family) notice anything suspicious? Sure, he was her "best friend" -- she kept him around so his checks would keep coming to support her. What a sicko!
Carol, I think hit the nail on the head 100%.
Now its up to her lawyer to get her off on a mental incompetence thing so she can walk after ripping everyone off.
It said she cleaned him. Doesn't the skin start to fall off after a period of time?
After seeing a picture of this guy I can understand how it would be hard to tell if he were alive or dead.
carol- being a little judgemental are you not? This story is less than a half a page long and doesn't say much about their life together other than saying best friend. I consider my husband my best friend as well as my husband. If it had been for checks alone she would or could have easily gotten rid of the body and still cashed them without this whole thing and made up a story he never came over one day and that she continued to cash them and pay the bills. Think about that for a second will you before calling people sickos
"Police in Jackson, Mich., are investigating why a 72-year-old woman kept the body of a friend in her house for more than a year and a half after he died.... Chase admitted to police that she cashed Zigler's Social Security checks..."
Gee, what could the reason be? I wonder.
Apparently, she cared more for him than his family.
So the son just learned of his death and doesn't think it was right what she did, yet his father had been dead for 18+ months and he had no clue nor had he alerted authorities before this to an issue/concern. This guy didn't care one bit about his father if he hadn't even been concerned or had any contact with the man, whom he knew to be ill, for that long. This woman clearly cared more for him than his own "family" did.
Yep real concerned son did not see his father for 18 months including birthdays, father's days and Christmas. Nice. I bet the lady made him happy.
The son's just pissed because she got the checks and not him. That's what someone who does not contact his ailing father in a year and a half only wants.
Don't judge the son. You don't know anything about the son or the father or their relationship. Could be they were more or less estranged and he rarely saw him.
My mom was an alcoholic and was very emotionally abusive. I rarely saw her and only kept tabs on her through my brother who checked on her somewhat regularly. If the situation had been like the above, where she had lived with another person (not family member), I can see very well how she could have died and I wouldn't have known for a long time.
The last sentence in an article can be as informative as the first.
Well...WAS she cashing his checks???
The article says rather clearly that she was.
Chase acknowledged to reporters she should have called authorities when Zigler died, but said she wasn’t ready to let go and didn’t want to be alone.
More like she didn't want to give up those tasty SS checks.
She sounds like she hasn't all of her faculties. Pension checks notwithstanding, no sane person could endure living with a corpse for 18 months for some meager monthly stipend. What I find sad is that neither person had family that cared enough to know what was going on in their lives.
In the US, people are only programmed to care about themselves...self-centeredness is glorified here. Also, think about all the old women living with hordes of smelly, defecating cats....is about as bad as a rotting corpse (and I know...once rented an apartment right after a woman had been found dead, rotting in it for over a week).
My son and his family are always too busy with stuff to have time for me.
After inviting them to join you for an outings many, many times, you quit calling and keep hoping that they'll find time to call you.
After a while, the pain of many rejections, you simply give up.
I hope that none of you ever feel the pain of rejection from your children.
She could have disposed of the body and still kept cashing the checks. She's a thief for sure, but a CRAZY thief.
She is smarter than people think. The body is her get out of jail card. She can claim mental defect because anybody has to be nuts to watch TV with a body. Maybe she is a Weekend At Bernie's fan.
Well, she did say she would watch NASCAR races with him. You just gotta be a little bit crazy to watch that on TV.
Dirp, my thoughts exactly. It's stupefying. Who knows how many fans are out there watching NASCAR on TV who have been dead for a while and no one is the wiser?
Dirp, my thoughts exactly. It is stupefying. Who knows how many fans are out there watching NASCAR on TV who have been dead for some time and no one is the wiser.
Dirp, my thoughts exactly. It's stupefying. Who knows how many NASCAR fans are out there watching the races on TV who have been dead for some time, yet no one is the wiser.
That said, my heart is with the old lady. Washing the body of the dead is a form of the greatest respect. He was mummified; there would have been only the slightest inoffensive musty odor. OMG, I understand her! and that scares me, and I have both laughed and wept over this touching story.
Apologize for the dupes. Sign-in has changed since I was last here, and I don't have a Facebook account. Had to go through a rigorous validation by msnbc and -- well, I screwed up; sorry.
How sad, that she found the company of a corpse to be better than that of a living people. Yes, she took the checks, but she could have gotten rid of the body at any time. I really think she was just lonely and didn't want to give up her friend.
I agree. Of course I don't know anything about this woman other than what the article tells us, but my gut feeling is that she's just a sad, lonely, woman. The fact that she cashed the checks is going to cause some to believe that was her main goal. But she didn't have to keep the body in her house to cash the checks. I feel so sad for both of them. I pray when I'm that age, I'll have visitors occasionally who care whether or not I'm alive and whether or not I have a dead body in my house. Obviously no one cared enough to check whether or not she was able to keep her house up. So many elderly folks have too much pride to admit they can't take care of their home anymore and end up living in squalor. Just so sad for both of them.
There are times being with the dead might be better than being with some of these living creeps now. Think what has been going on -- Colorado mass murders, Peterson the cop, etc. -- and we could go on and on and on.
This is very disturbing ! She should of contacted the family and had services for him I feel she should be charged with fraud As far as keeping him there for that long a period of time I'm sue this will fall under some type of crime but I'm not sure what the title of that crime would even be !
Why bother charging a 72 year old lady whose mental status us clearly in question. Consider the costs of prosecution and housing (if jailed).
She probably will not be charged in a criminal complaint, but she will have to pay back the money she stole. Insanity can protect someone from jail, but not from financial liability.
SSA requires me to have my annuity directly deposited in my account - if his went directly, and she did not use it from his account, she is probably off the hook.
Hey times are tough.
She finally found the perfect mate. Never argues and has government money coming in to boot. "Hey honey, can I cash your check? No comments? OK then. And off she goes to the bank. Laughing all the way. Gotta love it!
She cashed his checks most likely so no one would know he was dead, she didn't say, she SPENT his checks., I believe she kept him there as she said because she was lonely, and of course he died of natural causes, so this wasn't anything EVIL....BUT his own family/son waited 18 months, of course the son said he attempted several times to contact his dad, WELL he didn't try hard enough...SAD case
Exactly. She couldn't have kept me from my father!
Read this story and was sad for a lonely old woman who had lost her dear friend (and William Faulkner came to mind).
Then I hit the part about cashing the social security checks . . .
Some not-so-harsh punishment for this old fraud is due!
He's dead for a year and a half and his son doesn't notify anyone? Odd family!!! The old women is a thief!
His son only found out this week that he was dead.
Shes a thief and mentally ill. I'm sorry, but keeping the body in the house that long, you got issues.
If a lady cares enough for me to take care of me until I pass on, and even wants to keep my remains around to keep her company after I'm gone. Cool. She can have my SSI, and my 401K too, she deserves them. I'm sure the corpse in question would not disagree with me. When the time comes, I hope I remember to set up a joint account so my retirement can go to my girlfriend by direct deposit. that way she can claim she didn't realize she was still getting my retirement.
" Hey Charles, you want some peanuts?" (Silence) "OK, well, I am off to cash your SS checks. Just make yourself at home and don't move a muscle-be right back."
I am not sure Walter has much room to criticize-not checking on his dad for a year or more and all. That was not right either.
@ CommebntingbecauseIcan.... Snipped from the article to answer your question about whether she actually cashed the checks:
"Chase admitted to police that she cashed Zigler's Social Security checks and kept his body, mlive.com reported."
Pleeeeease!
Why the hate for Linda? I mean she was best friends with "wally"? She thought he was sleeping? Whats wrong with that, I mean maybe Wally is a cousin of Rip Van Winkle? He slept for 22 years
How about his Epitaph...
Here lies
Wally Yeast
Pardon me
For not rising.
Fish, that is sooo true! Would O'Bamma care have helped Wally