Homebuyer opens door to new house and finds a corpse waiting

One of the nice parts of buying a new home can be bonding with the folks who are selling, getting the lowdown on the new neighborhood, and even an early inside track to the politics of the block.

In fact, across America, many a great family friendship has begun that way.

Unfortunately, when you buy a new place in a foreclosure that amicable exchange just isn’t going to happen. Most likely, there are some distressed circumstances that forced such a disposal, usually through an auction.

Nonetheless, it was still an unpleasant shock for the new owner of a house in Maryland when they went to take possession of the property they had just acquired in such an auction, and found a dead body inside.

Prince George’s County police said the grim discovery was made Saturday morning in the town of District Heights, about 10 miles away from Washington D.C.

A woman with special needs, 39, used to live in the house with her grandmother until the older woman died over a year ago, a neighbor told NBC Washington. The neighbor, who said he grew up across the street from the woman, added that a caregiver also stopped coming to the house in recent months.

“We stopped seeing all traffic, so naturally we thought that she was gone with the family,” he said. He added that the house’s utilities were turned off after the foreclosure.

“I’m not sure if there was water in there, but I’m pretty sure if they cut the electricity, they cut the heat, too,” the neighbor said. “If we knew that she was still in there, we would have at least knocked on the door,” he added. “We would have at least asked her, ‘Is everything OK?’”

Local Police said they were waiting for autopsy results to determine how long ago the woman died, but they do not believe, at this stage, that the death is suspicious.