Wellness Check Finds 96-Year-Old Grandmother’s Body in a Chicago Freezer

Police conducting a welbeing check in northwestern Chicago found the body of a 96-year-old woman stuffed into a freezer in the garage.

Police said early Wednesday that a person was in custody related to the discovery, and charges are pending — but they provided no information about the person or their relationship to the victim, identified as Polish immigrant Regina Michalski, WLS reported.

Michalski lived in an apartment building in Chicago’s Cragin neighborhood with her daughter, the elderly woman’s granddaughter, Sabrina Watson, told the station.

Watson, who had been estranged from her grandmother and lives in Kentucky, called Chicago police because no one had seen Michalski in years.

“It started off with a wellness check and it ended with someone being found in the freezer,” Watson said.

Watson said it was just “intuition” that led her to make the call.

“I did suspect she was no longer alive and with us. I did not suspect her being found in the conditions she was found, and where she was found,” Watson said.

The freezer where the body was found was in a detached garage. Tenants of the building did not have access to the space.

Other residents of the building said they believe their landlord — Michalski’s daughter — put her mother’s body in the freezer because she told several different stories about where the older woman was. Other neighbors told CBS News that they were unaware an elderly woman ever lived there.

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[Featured image: Regina Michalski/handout]

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