Woman Kept Mom's Mummified Body Wrapped in Newspapers at Home: Police

A 54-year-old woman from Arkansas has been arrested on charges of financial identity fraud and abuse of a corpse, after her mother's dead body was allegedly found mummified and wrapped in newspaper in a home they shared.

Geanee Pike, from the city of Lincoln in Arkansas, was arrested by officers from the Washington County Sheriff's Office on Monday after her mother, Gloria Pike, was reported missing by her brother George Maness, according to a report by the authorities shared with Arkansas Online.

In July, Maness told the authorities that he had not seen his sister since August 2020, despite the pair living in separate houses on the same property, and claimed that last time he had contact with her she had Stage 4 breast cancer.

The police said they made several attempts following Maness' report on July 21 to get in contact with Gloria Pike, but were unsuccessful, as her daughter allegedly told them that her mother was staying with an unknown friend in an undisclosed location.

Geanee Pike did not consent to the police searching the property shared with her mother, and the report states that she told the authorities that she did not have access to Gloria Pike's credit card or bank account.

However, following a subpoena on Gloria Pike's bank account records, officers discovered that her card had made a transaction in Lincoln on July 27 at a Dollar General store, with the subsequent surveillance footage showing "Geanee Pike using her missing mother's check card."

The authorities were then granted a search warrant of the property for financial identity fraud, and officers claimed that they found the house in "deplorable living conditions," with no running water and human feces and urine stored in buckets throughout the residence.

The officers then discovered a mummified body wrapped in newspaper and bedding in an area next to Geanee Pike's bedroom, with the body currently with the Arkansas State Crime Lab to determine positive identification and the cause of death.

The report states that Geanee Pike told officers following the discovery that her mother died in the later part of 2020 but did not want to report it so covered her body with the newspapers and bedding.

The 54-year-old also allegedly claimed that her mother owed her money that she had promised to pay back with her monthly social security checks, and revealed that she continued using her credit card after Gloria Pike's death.

Geanee Pike was then arrested by the officers, and is facing charges of financial identity fraud and abuse of a corpse. She is currently being held at the Washington County Detention Center.

Newsweek has contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office for comment.