Northeast

Woman missing for months found buried under piles of hoarded trash in her own home

Published

8 months ago

July 13, 2025

Woman missing for months found buried under piles of hoarded trash in her own home

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A retired police detective’s skeletal remains have been found inside her rural Connecticut home filled with hoarding conditions seven months after she was reported missing.

The remains of 73-year-old Mary Notarangelo were discovered in February after work crews arrived at her rural Connecticut home to remove piles of trash accumulated from the retired detective’s hoarding behavior, according to the Glastonbury Police Department.

Notarangelo was last heard from around June 12, 2024, when she texted a friend to say she was suffering from abdominal cramps and vomiting and had fallen. Approximately three weeks later, the friend called the police to request a welfare check.

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This aerial photo taken Jun. 17, 2025, in Glastonbury, Connecticut, shows the home of Mary Notarangelo, a 73-year-old woman who was found dead under piles of debris in her home in February. (Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

Seven months later, on Feb. 24, an environmental services crew was called to Notarangelo’s home to begin removing the “mountains” of garbage. Notarangelo’s skeletal remains were discovered after workers used a small excavator to shovel a large pile of debris from behind her front door.

Authorities have not provided a reason why it took over half a year to find Notarangelo’s remains, though officials pointed to the large amount of trash in her home. Glastonbury police said conditions in the home were among the worst they have seen and complicated attempts to locate Notarangelo.

Officials reported finding cages of dead birds, a live cat and mice within the home, which also had a terrible stench.

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Mary Notarangelo’s skeletal remains were found inside her home nearly seven months after she was last heard from by friends. (iStock)

“Once inside, I observed more mountains of garbage, cobwebs and spiders,” Officer Anthony Longo reported. “There was no path whatsoever. The only way to move from room to room was by climbing over the garbage.”

Local authorities conducted their first search of the home on July 3, 2024, but were unable to locate Notarangelo, citing hoarding piles as the primary factor. A drone was also deployed into the house, but ultimately struck cobwebs and was disabled, according to police. Additional searches were conducted on July 5, July 11, July 12 and Nov. 20, but Notarangelo was never found.

“It’s so upsetting and so sad,” said Patti Steeves, a friend of Notarangelo’s who previously worked at the Bridgeport Police Department as a civilian employee. “She, as quirky as she was, was a good person at heart.”

SKELETAL REMAINS FOUND NEAR NEW HAMPSHIRE GOLF COURSE DAYS AFTER 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMAN’S DISAPPEARANCE

Authorities reportedly made multiple unsuccessful attempts to locate Mary Notarangelo, but were unable to enter her home due to the hoarding conditions. (iStock)

Steeves revealed she had made attempts to speak with her friend about the hoarding, but Notarangelo did not want to discuss the issue. Notarangelo was also a “bird fanatic” and had about 20 birds, along with a cat and dog, her friend said.

Notarangelo worked with the Bridgeport police from 1985 to 1996, and was promoted to detective in 1992 and to sergeant a year later, according to the department. She later retired on disability following an on-duty car crash, Steeves said.

Notarangelo’s cause of death could not be determined because her remains were primarily skeletal, the state medical examiner’s office said.

The Glastonbury Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Julia Bonavita is a U.S. Writer for Fox News Digital and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at @juliabonavita13 on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.

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Maine

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Published

47 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Robert Bryan is a licensed forester from Harpswell and author or co-author of numerous publications on managing forests for wildlife. Paul Larrivee is a licensed forester from New Gloucester who manages both private and public lands, and a former Maine Forest Service forester.

In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a conservation plan and forest management plan as mitigation for impacts from the NECEC transmission corridor that runs from the Quebec border 53 miles to central Maine.

As professional foresters, we were astonished by the lack of scientific credibility in the definition of “mature forest habitat” that was approved by DEP, and the business-as-usual commercial forestry proposed for over 80% of the conservation area.

The DEP’s approval requires NECEC to establish and protect 50,000 acres to be managed for mature-forest wildlife species and wildlife travel corridors along riparian areas and between mature forest habitats. The conservation plan will establish an area adjacent to the new transmission corridor to be protected under a conservation easement held by the state. Under this plan, 50% of the area will be managed as mature forest habitat.

Under the forest management plan, a typical even-aged stand will qualify as “mature forest habitat” once 50 feet tall, which is only about 50 years old. These stands will lack large trees that provide wildlife denning and nesting sites, multiple vegetation layers that mature-forest birds use for nesting and feeding habitats and large decaying trees and downed logs that provide habitat for insects, fungi and small mammals, which in turn benefit larger predators.

Another major concern is that contrary to the earlier DEP order, the final approval allows standard sustainable forestry operations on the 84% of the forest located outside the stream buffers and special habitats. These stands may be harvested as soon as they achieve the “mature forest habitat” definition, as long as 50% of the conserved land is maintained as “mature.”

After the mature forest goal is reached, clearcutting or other heavy harvesting could occur on thousands of acres every 10 years. Because the landowner — Weyerhaeuser — owns several hundred thousand acres in the vicinity, any reductions in harvesting within the conservation area can simply be offset by cutting more heavily nearby. As a result, the net
mature-forest benefit of the conservation area will be close to zero.

Third, because some mature stands will be cut before the 50% mature forest goal is reached, it will take 40 years — longer than necessary — to reach the goal.

In the near future the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) will consider an appeal from environmental organizations of the plan approval. To ensure that ecologically mature forest develops in a manner that meets the intent of the DEP/BEP orders, several things need to change.

First and most important, to ensure that characteristics of mature forest habitat have time to develop it is critical that the definition include clear requirements for the minimum number of large-diameter (hence more mature) trees, adjusted by forest type. At least half the stocking of an area of mature forest habitat should be in trees at least 10 inches in diameter, and at least 20% of stands beyond the riparian buffers should have half the stocking in trees greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter.

Current research as well as guidelines for defining ecologically mature forests, such as those in Maine Audubon’s Forestry for Maine Birds, should be followed.

Second, limits should be placed on the size and distribution of clearcut or “shelterwood” harvest patches so that even-aged harvests are similar in size to those created by typical natural forest disturbance patterns. These changes will help ensure that the mature-forest block and connectivity requirements of the orders are met.

Third, because the forest impacts have already occurred, no cutting should be allowed in the few stands that meet or exceed the DEP-approved definition — which needs to be revised as described above — until the 50% or greater mature-forest goal is reached.

If allowed to stand, the definitions and management described in the forest management plan would set a terrible precedent for conserving mature forests in Maine. The BEP should uphold the appeal and establish standards for truly mature forest habitat.

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Massachusetts

Foul play suspected after human remains found in water in Shirley

Published

1 hour ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Foul play suspected after human remains found in water in Shirley

Human remains were discovered Wednesday in the water in Shirley, Massachusetts, and authorities suspect foul play.

Police in Shirley said in a social media post at 7:15 p.m. that they responded to “a suspicious object in the water near the Maritime Veterans Memorial Bridge on Shaker Road.” Massachusetts State Police later said the object was believed to be human remains.

The bridge crosses Catacoonamug Brook near Phoenix Pond.

The office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said a group of young people was walking in the area around 5:30 p.m. and “reported seeing what appeared to be something consistent with a body part in the water.”

Foul play is suspected, Ryan’s office said.

Authorities will continue investigating overnight into Thursday, and an increased police presence is expected in the area.

No further information was immediately available.

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