Key Point Summary – Retired Detective Found Dead in Hoarder Home

• Mary Notarangelo, 73, was found dead inside her hoarder home in Connecticut
• She had been missing since June 2024; her body was found in February 2025
• The home was so cluttered that police needed an excavator to search inside
• Her skeletal remains were discovered under a pile of debris near the front door
• Dead birds, live rodents, and a cat were found living in filth alongside her remains
• The cause of death remains undetermined; no foul play has been confirmed
• She was a retired detective, Wiccan, and described as quirky but kind-hearted

Eight-Month Search Ends in Horror

What began as a missing persons case quietly escalated into a grotesque tragedy in Glastonbury, Connecticut, where the decomposing body of 73-year-old retired police detective Mary A. Notarangelo was finally found inside her home.

She had vanished without a trace more than eight months earlier, but it wasn’t until crews used an excavator to cut through the piles of debris that her skeletal remains were uncovered near her front door.

The discovery was made in February—but police only announced it this week.

Unlivable Filth and Shocking Conditions

Police Chief Marshall Porter described the home as “the most deplorable” he’d ever seen. “Most hoarders have paths. This was floor-to-ceiling,” he said. “You had to climb over piles.”

Inside the suffocating clutter, officials found dead birds in cages, mice running loose, and even a live cat trying to survive. The air reeked with a stench so strong that even a drone’s blades were tangled in cobwebs when investigators tried to fly it indoors.

Initial searches failed because police weren’t equipped to handle the biohazard-level squalor. The home was so jam-packed, they couldn’t get beyond the threshold.

They even searched the surrounding woods, but since Mary used a walker, they doubted she had gotten far.

A Mystery That Haunted the Town

Notarangelo was last seen alive on June 12, 2024. She was reported missing weeks later, on July 3, by a local man who occasionally helped her with errands.

Although there was no evidence she had left voluntarily, police feared launching a full-scale cleanout of her home might trigger outrage if she suddenly reappeared. After all, the estimated cost to clear the hoarded items was over $100,000.

As the months dragged on with no sign of her, Chief Porter finally made the call. Crews from a biohazard cleanup company returned in February—this time with the tools to dig in.

Within hours of beginning the job, they found her.

Death Still a Mystery

Officials haven’t confirmed how or when Notarangelo died. A representative from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told reporters that her cause and manner of death remain undetermined due to the state of her remains.

Still, no signs of foul play have been reported. The scene suggests she may have collapsed inside her home, but the extreme hoarding delayed her discovery for nearly a year.

“It’s tragic and very strange,” Porter admitted.

A Quirky, Quiet Life Ends Alone

Mary Notarangelo retired from the Bridgeport Police Department after suffering back and leg injuries in an on-duty car crash. Friends described her as a longtime Wiccan, an animal lover, and someone with a “quirky” but kind nature.

Her friend Patti Steeves, a former civilian employee at the department, said Mary had few relatives and kept to herself. “She was a good person at heart,” Steeves said. “It’s so upsetting and so sad.”

Local residents expressed frustration over how long it took to find her, especially since her condition was known. In March—just weeks after her body was recovered—a friend voiced concern over the town’s silence on her disappearance. It’s still unclear why the discovery remained unannounced until June.

Calls for Change After Grisly Discovery

Now, community members are asking why it took so long to act. Could something have been done sooner? Could she have been found before it was too late?

Chief Porter said the hoarding made any early effort nearly impossible. Still, he acknowledges the weight of the outcome.

“We weren’t prepared for what we found,” he said. “But at the end of the day, she deserved to be found.”

Notarangelo’s story now joins a grim list of seniors who lived in isolation and died unnoticed—until the smell and silence became impossible to ignore.

As officials await final forensic conclusions, one thing is heartbreakingly clear:

Mary Notarangelo was surrounded by mountains of possessions… but no one to help when she needed it most.