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Mich. police investigating mummified woman's cause of death

PONTIAC, Mich. - The mummified body of a woman was found Wednesday in a vehicle parked in the garage of a foreclosed home north of Detroit, reports CBS Detroit.

The Oakland County sheriff's office says an employee of a property management company stumbled upon the body in the rear seat of the vehicle while doing a walk-through Wednesday at the house in Pontiac.

An autopsy was performed Thursday and found no trauma to the body. A cause of death has yet to be determined, although CBS Detroit reports that the Oakland County Sheriff's Department is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.

The body is believed to be that of a 49-year-old German immigrant whose last known address was at that home.

"We're not saying a name because we don't know," Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said, according to CBS Detroit. "She's been there since 2008 or thereabouts; the body is frozen, mummified."

Neighbors have told investigators that they haven't seen the woman who lived in the house and believed she moved away at least three years ago. They say the woman kept to herself.

CBS Detroit reports that the home has a large amount of a substance believed to be black mold, police said. "The home is in a HAZMAT condition," said Bouchard.

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