Woman hid mother’s body for years to claim pension, rules out homicide

BERLIN: The police have found the body of a 100-year-old woman hidden at her house in the small Bavarian town of Ruhmannsfelden in Germany. The woman's 82-year-old daughter was staying with her. The dead woman received a monthly pension of 1,500 euros ($1,780) per month. Police suspect that her daughter hid the body for years so she could continue collecting the woman’s pension.

The body of Sophie, born in 1922, was found at her house. For years, Werner Troeberbild, the mayor of Rummensfelden, had been visiting her home to wish her on her birthday, but had not been able to. The mayor then informed the police, which led to the shocking information. Mayor Werner Troiber said on each visit he found the door closed or else the woman’s daughter Christa B gave a reason not to receive him.

The mayor notified the public prosecutor after Christa told him that her mother had died two years earlier in the Czech Republic. Police found the mother’s mummified corpse in the first of this month. Police said that a postmortem was conducted but the cause or time of death could not be determined. The police ruled out homicide but launched an investigation into suspected pension fraud.