Friends, Family Made Visits To Woman's Mummified Body

CINCINNATI -- Friends and family of a dead woman would occasionally stop by her upstairs room to say hello to her mummified body, officials said.

The Hamilton County Coroner said Johannas Pope, who was found in a Madisonville home last week, had been dead since 2003.

Pope, who was 61 at the time of her death, apparently told her 42-year-old friend and caregiver that she would come back to life.

The caregiver apparently left Pope propped up in a chair in her room, with a television and air-conditioning unit running.

The air-conditioning unit mummified Pope's body, Coroner O'dell Owens said.

Pope had suffered from lupus but didn't want medical attention, and she hadn't seen a doctor for 10 years before her death.