Woman Found Buried Under Her Trash Died From Heart Disease
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Feb 16, 2012 11:20PM
The elderly woman whose body was discovered buried under piles of trash in her home died of heart disease, an autopsy showed. Margareta Scheibe, 72, had been missing for weeks when a friend contacted the authorities.
Police believe Margareta Scheibe had been dead at least a few days, but [Worth police Chief Martin] Knolmayer conceded she "may" have been beneath that pile of garbage for a couple of weeks. Frank Scheibe will face no criminal charges and is free to return home, Knolmayer said.
One of her sons, Bill Scheibe Jr., said his mother, who grew up in Germany during WWII, "lived as though she was always preparing for another war." He said her hoarding started when he was a kid, but it was never so extreme. He hadn't entered the house in 20 years.“If you grew up with a hoarder, would you want to go back?” he told the Sun-Times. “You love the people, but would you go back?”