LYONS TOWNSHIP, Ill. — Authorities are planning to excavate a backyard in Lyons Township — a suburb of Chicago — Friday after two adult brothers admitted burying their mother and sister on the property.
Excavation equipment was expected to arrive Friday in what police described as a “hoarder home” in Lyons. The forensic investigation will take place by police, the Cook County medical examiner’s office and the state’s attorney, Fox News reported.
The Lyons Police Department said officers were called Thursday morning to the residence for a wellness check after the report of unusual utility service.
Officers discovered the home did not have running water or working toilets, and its back door barricaded. Police said it was a “hoarder home” filled with items and waste from floor to ceiling, including feces and bottles filled with urine. Moreover, several cats and dogs were present to multiply the stench.
Two brothers in their late 40s and early 50s lived at the location, according to Lyons Police Chief Thomas Herion. One of the brothers said his sibling was upstairs and had “some health issues.”
As police inquired further, they discovered the mother and sister had died and the brothers buried them in the backyard.
According to the brothers, their mother was in her 70s when she died in 2019, and that their 44-year-old sister had hit her head and died in the past year, police said.
The brothers told investigators they had buried the bodies in the backyard due to fears of COVID-19 and to avoid paying the funeral costs.
The men were taken to a hospital for both physical and mental evaluations, police said. Thus far they have not been placed under arrest, Fox reported.
The Lyons Police Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press seeking an update on the investigation and excavation.
