Bedford, NH Woman Accused Of Living With Dead Mother For 5 Months Faces 'Abuse Of A Corpse' Charge

BEDFORD, N.H. (CBS) -- A Bedford, New Hampshire woman accused of living with her mother's body for months after she died has been arrested.

Kimberly K. Heller, 54, is charged with abuse of a corpse, Bedford police said Friday. Officers arrested her on Nov. 18.

Police said they responded to the home on Ministerial Court where they both lived on Oct. 24, following a wellness check request from family members who had not seen Heller's mother for months. No one answered the door.

Police said officers returned the next day but Heller wouldn't let them in. They came back later with a search warrant, and that's when they found her mother's body.

"Bedford Police later learned that HELLER's mother died in the days before Memorial Day in May," police said in a statement. "An autopsy by the State Medical Examiner determined that she died of natural causes."

Police said they contacted the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General after discovering that Social Security payments to Heller's mother were still being deposited into her bank account months after her death.

Heller is due in court in Merrimack on Jan. 6, 2022.