Retired detective found dead in hoarding conditions in Connecticut, months after she went missing

GLASTONBURY, Conn. (AP) — Mary Notarangelo lived a reclusive life in her later years, according to the few people who had contact with her. The retired police detective tended to her many birds at her Connecticut home and posted videos of them on social media, including one accompanying her on a trip to a local crafts store.

But a welfare check request to police last year uncovered disturbing truths. Hoarding conditions were found in her house in Glastonbury, just southeast of Hartford, when authorities tried to find her last July. It wasn’t until February that a work crew using a small excavator discovered her skeletal remains. They were found beneath a pile of debris heaped just inside her front door, according to a police report released Wednesday.

Glastonbury police said conditions in the single-family home set off a rural road in the woods were among the worst they’ve seen and hindered several search attempts over the months. Officers said there were 6-foot-tall (2-meter-tall) “mountains” of garbage blocking entrance doors. Dead birds were found in cages along with mice running about and a live cat. And there was a terrible stench.

“Once inside, I observed more mountains of garbage, cobwebs, and spiders,” Officer Anthony Longo wrote in the report. “There was no path whatsoever. The only way to move from room to room was by climbing over the garbage.”

It’s not clear how Notarangelo died. At 73, she was a retired Bridgeport police detective and longtime Wiccan, according to officials and friends. Her death was first reported by Hearst Connecticut Media earlier Wednesday.

The state medical examiner’s office said her cause of death could not be determined because the remains were mostly skeletal. A friend had called police to request the welfare check July 3, 2024. He told investigators Notarangelo last texted him around June 12, 2024, saying she was having abdominal cramps, vomiting and had fallen. It’s not clear why the friend — who did not return phone and text messages — waited so long to call authorities.

It’s also not clear why it took seven months to find her remains, although several attempts had been made and officials cited the mounds of trash and other items. A police spokesperson did not immediately return an email seeking comment about the timeline.

“It’s so upsetting and so sad,” said another friend, Patti Steeves, who worked with Notarangelo at the Bridgeport Police Department as a civilian employee years ago. “She, as quirky as she was, she was a good person at heart.”

Steeves added: “She was passionate about her faith. She was passionate about her job. She had a great sense of humor. And she loved her animals. She loved her animals more than she did herself.”

Steeves said she tried to talk with Notarangelo about the hoarding, but Notarangelo wouldn’t discuss it.

She said Notarangelo was a “bird fanatic” who had about 20 birds, including cockatoos, cockatiels and parrots, and a cat and a dog.

Bridgeport police said Notarangelo worked there from 1985 to 1996. She was promoted to detective in 1992 and to sergeant a year later. Steeves said she retired on disability after an on-duty car crash that injured her back and legs.

Notarangelo posted occasionally on her social media accounts, saying she was an animal lover and an “intuitive & reiki master,” referring to the Japanese healing practice. She posted videos and photos of her birds, including a cockatoo perched on a shopping cart during her outing to a crafts store.

Police and firefighters first searched the home on July 3, 2024, the day of the welfare check request but couldn’t find her, citing hoarding piles as a major factor. They also sent a drone in the house, but it hit cobwebs and became disabled, police said. More searches, they said, were conducted on July 5, July 11, July 12 and Nov. 20.

On Feb. 24, an environmental services crew arrived with a small excavator. Plywood was removed from the front door area and crews used the excavator to carefully remove the contents of the home through the opening. Notarangelo’s remains were discovered within minutes, police said.

An attorney was assigned to handle Notarangelo’s estate in March. He did not return phone and email messages Wednesday.

Relatives of Notarangelo, including her brother and niece, declined to comment.