Foreclosed on and found dead.......

[Marta Mike]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9036336/



Darlene Pirtle retired in the early 1990s and started to shut out the world.

Darlene Pirtle retired in the early 1990s and started to shut out the world.

Her nephew, Sam Hastings, doesn't have a clue why. He lived with her in an old south Minneapolis house for 20 years before moving out in the summer of 2002. Even when they lived together, he said, they rarely talked and she usually ate when he wasn't around.

Pirtle, who had been a sorter for American Linen Co., just hibernated in her upstairs bedroom. That's where she was found dead this summer, eight months after her house was boarded up.

It may never be clear whether the 79-year-old was alive or dead when the city shut up the tiny house at 3216 Garfield Av., the Hennepin County medical examiner said.

Pirtle's death went unnoticed for so long partly because of her own reclusiveness, but also because city inspectors aren't required to walk through buildings before boarding them up.

Although authorities initially said the contractor was expected to walk through the property before boarding it up in November, that wasn't part of the contract. The city official who manages such properties said the city is considering whether to change the policy.

"Somebody should have checked," Hastings said. "I'm still trying to deal with it."

Minneapolis doesn't plan to crack open the nearly 150 properties that are currently boarded up, said Tom Deegan, who manages the city's vacant and boarded properties. He said that the city has concerns for the safety of inspectors and that the city doesn't have the right to enter private buildings. Officials will explore whether search warrants might allow them access, he said.

Longtime resident

Since the early 1960s, Pirtle lived in the Garfield Avenue house, which is dwarfed by apartment buildings on both sides. Her life didn't always appear to be headed down this lonely path.

She was born in Barron, Wis., and was married in Kentucky. The couple had no children and later divorced, Hastings said. She moved in with her mother, Esther Holmes, on Garfield Avenue and worked until she retired in her 60s.

Her sister, Arlene Hastings, died in 1991, and her 89-year-old mother died around Christmas five years later. Pirtle paid $642.61 for her mother's funeral but owed $7,000 for her mother's nursing home expenses, court documents said.

With the help of a Legal Aid Society attorney, Pirtle and Sam Hastings took ownership of the house. When he moved out in 2002, Hastings said he didn't have any concerns that she could take care of herself.

"She used to read, watch television," Hastings said. "Then I'm thinking she just gave up. I have no idea what was going through her head."

Hastings said he repeatedly visited and called his aunt after he moved, but she didn't respond.

Pirtle didn't pay about $1,700 in property taxes for 2003, triggering the county's efforts to contact the owner or find somebody to cover the bill.

In May 2004, the two-bedroom house built in 1900 was sold to the state, but Pirtle still had a year to redeem it, said Jeffrey Strand, supervisor for the county's tax forfeiture and property revenue.

A neighbor called police Nov. 4 because Pirtle's front porch door was open. An officer closed the door, didn't see any trouble and reported it to the city, Deegan said. A few days later, an inspector knocked on Pirtle's door and peered through windows. The inspector took photographs from outside, but didn't go inside.

The city sent Pirtle a letter saying she had a week to respond or the house would be boarded up. The letter most likely ended up with the weeks of mail piled up at the house.

Mail carriers sometimes keep track of older residents on their routes, but it's not required, said Jim Ahlgren, spokesman for the Minneapolis post office.

When a carrier delivers mail to a property that obviously appears vacant or abandoned, the carrier is required to bring the mail back to the station and hold it for 10 days to see whether a change-of-address card has been filed, he said. If a forwarding address isn't found, the mail is stopped. He said he didn't know why that process wasn't followed for Pirtle's house.

Jim Redding, manager of Castrejon Inc., has boarded up more than 200 properties for Minneapolis in the last year. He said he pounded on the door of Pirtle's house in November.

When there was no answer, Redding turned on his generator and started cutting the boards, screwing them over doors and ground-floor windows.

"I didn't see anything unusual at [Pirtle's] house," he said. "Maybe the city should do a walk-through before boarding up."

The city then started its process of condemning the property, which included periodic inspections of the house's exterior and multiple attempts to contact the owner. Nothing looked awry and the city never reached the owner.

The county also didn't get any response from two certified letters (one delivered by a deputy sheriff) and a legal notice published in the Finance and Commerce newspaper between January and May to notify Pirtle about the delinquent taxes on her house, valued at more than $180,000. A certified letter was also sent to Hastings at the Garfield address, but it was returned with a note saying he had moved and no forwarding address was available. Hastings said he was never contacted by the county.

The county cared for the property, trimming overgrown bushes, mowing the grass and pruning trees. Officials had to wait until early June for the end of the forfeiture process to enter the house legally.

Rory Lucas, a senior property management specialist, opened the door to an overwhelming smell of garbage and mold, he said. A busted water pipe in the kitchen was flooding the main floor. Dozens of pizza boxes and other trash littered the house.

Lucas stepped back and donned a protective suit and respirator mask so he could safely enter the house. He said there were no signs of human life. He took photograph after photograph, including one taken from just outside the upstairs bedroom to document the mess inside.

"It looked like a garbage house to me," he said. "We weren't looking for a dead body."

On July 21, a consultant hired by the county to inspect Pirtle's house for mold and asbestos found her mummified body wedged between her bed and a dresser cluttered with beauty products, faded pictures and a tiny Christmas tree. Police continue to investigate her death, but no foul play was involved.

Determining when she died will be very difficult, said Dr. Andrew Baker, the county medical examiner. He said she had been dead for at least several months.

"There is no guarantee we can say with certainty if she was alive when the house was boarded up," he said.

Abandoned houses

Although Pirtle's situation was tragic, Deegan said he has never heard of anything similar in the city during the 30 years he was a firefighter, fire marshal and a manager for boarded-up properties. While he and other top managers believe this was an anomaly, they will discuss with police whether they could get search warrants to enter such houses.

But he also has safety concerns for inspectors. What if they came across a transient person high on drugs or the property had been used to make methamphetamine? he asked.

Pirtle wished to be cremated, but Hastings has yet to make funeral arrangements. Her death should be seen as a call for neighbors to become more engaged, especially with senior citizens, Deegan said.

"What we had here was a 79-year-old woman who allegedly had no contact for years," he said. "I've seen a lot of things, but this is just puzzling."