Florida woman hid dead mother in freezer to collect disability benefits, police say

A woman in Florida is accused of putting her dead mother in a freezer to collect her disability benefits, according to police.

Police officers with the Sebastian Police Department made the discovery during a welfare check on April 28 and found 93-year-old Marie Hoskins dead inside a chest freezer in Sebastian, Florida.

Michele Hoskins, the daughter, was questioned by police and admitted to finding her mother dead in a bedroom. She then allegedly bought a deep freezer to store the body, according to police.

Police say that Michele, 64, attempted to hide her mother’s death because she was concerned “she would not be able to receive her disability benefits.”

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When police executed a search warrant on the house, a “heavily soiled bed mattress was located concealed in thick brush and covered by cut palm tree branches in the backyard.”

An investigation revealed that Marie died of natural causes and was dead for two weeks before being put inside the freezer, according to police.

Hoskins is at the Indian River County Jail and is being held on a $10,000 bond and was charged with failure to report the death of her mother as well as tampering with evidence, according to FOX 13.

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Police initially attempted to perform a wellness check in April and were unsuccessful, but an officer “had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right,” and a second attempt followed.

Police called a relative who was out of town but gave them access to the house, where officers allegedly found the daughter, according to police.

“We opened the door, and she happened to be in the residence,” Wood said, FOX 35 reported. “I don’t know if she didn’t hear us knocking on the door or whatever it was, but she happened to be inside when we started going through the residence.”