Skeletal remains found inside Ohio home during search for missing woman; daughter arrested

LANCASTER, Fairfield County — A woman is in jail after detectives found skeletal remains inside an Ohio home while searching for her missing mother, according to our media partners WBNS-10 TV.

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Katharine Arnold, 58, was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, according to a previous News Center 7 report.

Her mother, Lorraine Arnold, 92, was reported missing on Monday after a family member asked police to do a wellness check at the home they shared, according to WBNS-10 TV.

Neighbors told police that Katharine had been gone for a week and it had been a long time since they saw Lorraine.

Mary-Ellen Donovan thought she saw Lorraine about two months ago, but it was not unusual given her age and health issues.

“She didn’t really have much to do with us anymore,” Donovan told WBNS-10 TV. “It is Mayberry. We don’t know what is going on all the time and we don’t interact too much.”

The Lancaster Police Department obtained a warrant to search the house in the 300 block of Lynwood Lane on Thursday.

According to a police report obtained by WBNS-10 TV, the home was covered in cobwebs and vegetation was growing in the basement.

Detectives found skeletal remains in a chair inside, surrounded by an unknown substance, WBNS-10 TV reported.

Authorities arrested Katharine at a medical facility in Columbus.

The police report indicates that Katharine reported that Lorraine died in her sleep on Aug. 4, 2023, to a doctor, but a death certificate was never filed.

“I am shocked that she was gone, that she was gone that long and I am amazed that it has been that long,” Donovan said.

The Fairfield County Coroner’s Office is working to determine if the remains found inside the home belong to Lorraine.

This incident remains under investigation.

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