Woman Lived With Mom's Decomposing Body For Months To 'See Stages Of Death,' Police Say

A woman from Enfield, North Carolina was arrested Tuesday after police say they discovered she had been living alongside her 93-year-old mother’s decomposing corpse for months because she was “curious” to see the stages of death.

The investigation was prompted after Donna Sue Hudgins, 69, went to a funeral home to make funeral arrangements, the Enfield Police Department says. Hudgins told the funeral director that her mother died but that she didn’t know where EMS took her body. The funeral home tried to track down the body of Nellie Mae Hudgins but searches were unsuccessful. Eventually, after becoming concerned, they contacted the police. They conducted a search of the woman’s home. Both Donna Hudgins and her mother lived together.

There, police “discovered a badly decomposed body in the home” and “found that the deceased was in the home for several months before the daughter notified family members of their mothers [sic] passing.”

Instead, Hudgins allegedly made excuses.

“Every time somebody would stop by, [Hudgins] would meet us at the door, say [Nellie May’s] asleep or something like that,” relative Kenny Velasquez told WRAL-TV in Raleigh.

After interviewing Donna Hudgins, police wrote they “learned that she did not report the death because she was curious and wanted to see the stages of death.”

Neighbors did notice a foul smell coming from the home, but didn’t think it was a dead body.

“I thought maybe it was a sewer or something,” neighbor Edna Burgess told WRAL-TV.

Hudgins has been charged with felony concealment of death. She was given a $5000 bond. She’s not due back in court until Nov. 7.

[Photo: Enfield Police Department]