Anna Caplan
Authorities positively ID’d the remains of a woman who allegedly fell through the floorboards of her attic, and was wedged in between the walls of her Heights home where she died.
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The woman, 61-year-old Mary Stewart Cerruti, was reported missing in 2015; on Tuesday, the Harris County Coroner’s Office confirmed her death.
New homeowners found her skeletal remains in March.
“In the attic, there was a broken board that led down to the space. Law enforcement thinks she may have been up in the attic and fell through the attic floor,” Tricia Bentley, spokesperson for the medical examiner, told People magazine.
“It is a one-story home with an attic so she was found on the first floor. There was some space between the walls where a person could fit.”
Cerruti was wedged in between the walls, but the coroner was reportedly unable to determine her cause of death.
Pictures of the floorboard that police believe Mary Cerruti fell through and the hole detectives cut in the wall to access her remains. Her bones were found inside her Heights home last March. Case has been closed. Heartbreaking. #KHOU11 pic.twitter.com/znEeKMOATZ
— Janelle Bludau (@JanelleKHOU) January 24, 2018
“The cause of death is listed as undetermined because the remains were skeletonized,” Bentley said. “There is no evidence to say how exactly she died.”
“Degraded clothing, athletic shoes and a pair of eyeglasses” were also found, helping authorities identify the woman.
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