Heart disease killed woman left in home

The woman who’s body was found in her daughter’s Ogden home months after her death died of natural causes. An autopsy report says Blanche Mathilda Roth died of heart disease.

The report says the 87-year-old’s body was mummified when it arrived at the chief medical examiner’s office in Chapel Hill. It also says the body had spots of mold, pupa cases and numerous maggots.

Roth’s body was found Dec. 15 after New Hanover County dispatchers received a 911 call tipping them off to the body still in a bedroom at the home on Cherry Laurel Court, where Roth’s daughter Amy Stewart and her family lived.

Stewart is charged with concealing her mother’s death. She is also accused of cashing Roth’s Social Security checks and stealing her retirement money.