LANCASTER, Ohio — Lancaster police are investigating after finding skeletal remains inside a home during a search for 92-year-old Lorraine Arnold, who was reported missing.
Arnold’s daughter, 58-year-old Katherine Arnold was arrested and charged with felony abuse of a corpse.
Lorraine was reported missing on Monday when a family member expressed concern and asked police to do a wellness check at the home Lorraine and Katherine shared.
Officers spoke to neighbors who reported it had been a long time since they had seen Lorraine, and Katherine had been gone for about a week.
Mary-Ellen Donovan told police she last saw Lorraine about two months ago, which was not unusual considering her age and health issues.
“She didn’t really have much to do with us anymore,” Donovan told 10TV. “It is Mayberry. We don’t know what is going on all the time and we don’t interact too much.”
An employee of a cable company was at the home to inquire with Lorraine after bills went unpaid.
On Thursday, officers got a warrant to search the home and look for Lorraine. The home was in disarray, covered in cobwebs with vegetation growing in the basement, according to the police report.
Once inside, police discovered skeletal remains in a chair, surrounded by an unknown substance.
Katherine was arrested at a medical facility in Columbus and charged with felony abuse of a corpse. According to the police report, she had called the doctor on Aug. 4, reporting Lorraine had died in her sleep the night before but no death certificate was ever filed.
The news was shocking for Donovan and her neighbors on their quiet Lancaster street.
“I am shocked that she was gone, that she was gone that long and I am amazed that it has been that long,” she said.
The Fairfield County Coroner’s Office is still working to determine if the remains belonged to Lorraine.
The cause of death remains under investigation.