Elderly woman dies; body found outside after 8 days

BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) - A trip to the backyard ended in tragedy after an elderly woman’s body was discovered after lying outside for several days.

“Buzzards were circling, and it’s not uncommon for a deer to die and the buzzards take care of them. I didn’t think too much about it until we saw two of them perched on her roof. I told Pat [his wife] something’s wrong,” Roy Patrick, a neighbor, said.

According to the Boyd County Coroner, the woman’s body was in her backyard for eight days.

When she was found, her body was badly decomposed from a combination of intense heat and humidity and being preyed upon by animals.

The coroner says it appears the woman died of natural causes, but they’re waiting on autopsy reports.

“We’ll miss her,” Patrick said about his neighbor.

He and his wife say following this incident, it’s a reminder of how important it is to check on your neighbors.

“Especially the ones who live alone, and she lived there alone. I said we should pay more attention to neighbors and family,” he said.

The body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy.

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