Police: Woman living with dead husband

(Bay Ridge - WABC, November 21, 2006) (WABC) -- A woman called police to report her husband had died. He died, however, several years ago and she was still living with the body, police say.

It's happening in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn and that's where Eyewitness News reporter Carolina Tarazona is with the story.

Neighbors tell us they have been concerned with Joan Iverson for quite some time. She lived in the building for more than 30 years and was someone who was very well liked. But none of the neighbors she lived with could have imagined what was inside her home.

"She's a lovely lady, very friendly, very helpful ... just a nice lady, we all love her," neighbor Bonnie Cane said.

Neighbors describe 77-year-old Joanie Iverson as someone who loved to collect things, not someone capable of maliciously hiding a cadeavor.

But police say 77-year-old Iverson called them this morning telling cops her husband had died. When police arrived at 238 Bay Ridge Parkway, they say they found skeletal remains of someone who had been dead for at least three years.

Neighbors say it was her husband Frank, a well known painter in the building whom they hadn't seen in a very long time.

"I asked about him a couple of times and she said he was fine ... I thought he had just moved away ... I just feel sad ... must have been very, very difficult for her," Cane said.

Police are now telling us that no charges have been filed against Iverson and that the official cause of death is still to be determined by the medical examiner.

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