The remains of a retired police detective were discovered earlier this year inside her cluttered Connecticut home, months after she was reported missing, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Mary Notarangelo, 73, lived a secluded life in her later years, caring for dozens of birds and sharing glimpses of her animal companions on social media, according to those who knew her. But her reclusive lifestyle concealed a grim reality that only came to light after a welfare check last summer, police said.
Authorities first visited Notarangelo’s home in Glastonbury, southeast of Hartford, on July 3, 2024, after a friend said they were concerned about her well-being. The friend, who last received a text from Notarangelo around June 12, 2024, reported that she had complained of abdominal pain, vomiting, and a fall, according to the police report. The friend did not respond to further inquiries, and it remains unclear why he waited weeks to contact authorities.
Upon their arrival, officers saw what they described as some of the worst hoarding conditions they had seen. Piles of trash, some reaching six feet high, blocked entrances and filled the rooms, making it nearly impossible to move through the house.
“Once inside, I observed more mountains of garbage, cobwebs, and spiders,” Officer Anthony Longo wrote. “There was no path whatsoever. The only way to move from room to room was by climbing over the garbage.”
The search was further complicated by the presence of dead birds in cages, a live cat, and mice scurrying through the debris. The stench inside the home was overwhelming, according to the police report. Despite multiple search attempts in July and November, including the use of a drone that became disabled by cobwebs, authorities were unable to locate Notarangelo.
It was not until Feb. 24 that an environmental services crew, equipped with a small excavator, began removing debris from the front door area. Within minutes, workers uncovered skeletal remains beneath a pile of trash just inside the entrance. The state medical examiner’s office later determined that the remains were Notarangelo’s, but said the cause of death could not be established due to the advanced state of decomposition.
Notarangelo, a retired Bridgeport police detective, had served with the department from 1985 until 1996, earning promotions to detective and sergeant before retiring on disability after suffering injuries in an on-duty car accident, according to Bridgeport police.
A longtime Wiccan and self-described “intuitive & reiki master,” Notarangelo frequently shared videos of her birds—cockatoos, cockatiels, and parrots—on social media, including one of a cockatoo perched on a shopping cart during a trip to a crafts store.
A friend of Notarangelo, Patti Steeves, described Notarangelo as “quirky” but “a good person at heart.”
“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,” she said.
Steeves said she had tried to address the hoarding with Notarangelo, but her friend refused to discuss it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
