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> Posted at 6:37 a.m. PST Friday, January 17, 1997     [Image] [Home]
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> Daughter thought `mummy' wasn't really dead                  [Index]
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> BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) -- Police found the
> ``mummified'' body of an elderly woman in her
> apartment, propped up on a couch in front of a
> television. Investigators said her live-in daughter
> and grandson thought the woman was not really dead.
> 
> The dead woman was identified as Elizabeth Wilcher,
> 77. She was in a ``mummified'' state, meaning all
> fluids had drained from her body.
> 
> Wilcher was wearing a dress and her eyes were wide
> open when officers forced their way into her
> apartment about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. A tub had
> been placed at Wilcher's feet to collect body
> fluids, but there was hardly any foul odor, police
> said.
> 
> ``The scene was really not all that ugly,'' police
> Sgt. Ed Bowen said. ``I've seen much uglier than
> this, but it is bizarre. It's beyond bizarre.''
> 
> Police believe the woman had been dead for several
> months while her daughter, Avon Griffis, 44, and
> grandson, Damon Lee, 22, were cashing her Social
> Security checks.
> 
> The Kern County coroner's office ruled out foul
> play and concluded Thursday that Wilcher died of
> undetermined natural causes, probably months ago.
> 
> ``There were no obvious signs of any type of injury
> or trauma to the body that would indicate anything
> other than natural death,'' said Jim Malouf, chief
> inspector of the coroner's office. ``Then again,
> looking at what we had to work with, there wasn't a
> whole lot to work with to establish true cause of
> death.''
> 
> Police made no arrests, but said Griffis and Lee
> are under investigation for forgery and Social
> Security fraud.
> 
> Griffis and Lee told police that it was their
> belief that Wilcher was not dead, but ``demonically
> depressed'' and they thought she would recover,
> Bowen said.
> 
> ``That's the scenario,'' Lee told the Bakersfield
> Californian. ``Whatever the police say, use their
> facts.''
> 
> Lee refused further comment and Griffis declined to
> comment.
> 
> ``It was a touchy situation,'' Bowen said. ``The
> woman was obviously deceased, but they were quite
> sincere in their belief that she could come back to
> life and that she was actually not beyond help
> spiritually.''
> 
> Griffis and Lee were examined by psychiatrists at
> Kern Medical Center and released Wednesday night, a
> hospital spokeswoman said.
> 
> ``Their actions were quite extreme in this case,
> but not out of the realm of believability,'' Bowen
> said. ``In the psychiatrists' minds, these people
> were rational enough to explain their actions. So,
> they released them.''
> 
> And because police found no evidence of foul play,
> Bowen said he was not sure what charges Griffis and
> Lee might face, especially after the pair said they
> spent the Social Security money to care for the
> dead woman.
> 
> ``They are under investigation for forgery, but my
> gut feeling is that based on overall circumstances,
> it's not going anywhere,'' Bowen said.
> 
> Police forced their way into Wilcher's apartment at
> the request of Adult Protective Services, which had
> been contacted by another daughter of the dead
> woman, Catherine Griffis.
> 
> She said that she has tried to see her mother for
> several months, but was turned back each time by
> her sister, Avon.
> 
> ``I can't believe no charges were filed,''
> Catherine Griffis said.
> -------------------------------------------------------------