HYDE SQ.—A year-and-a-half after its owner was found dead inside, the house at 38-40 Sheridan St. remains unoccupied and unclaimed in a legal limbo.
Elderly Doris Warren died alone in her home in June 2012 and was not found until her letter carrier called authorities about a week later. Her husband, Raymont Warren Jr. died 12 years earlier. The couple did not designate an heir.
According to a Suffolk County Probate Court employee, the City could appoint a public administrator to manage the property, but that has not yet happened.
“As of right now, nobody is in charge of the house, unless somebody takes an active interest in it,” he said.
He recommended that any interested parties in the property hire a lawyer.
When the Gazette visited the property last week, the front yard was overgrown and one door and some windows were boarded up.
In May 2000, Raymont died in the home, and Doris wrapped his body in trash bags and hid it under a bed for nine days, as the Boston Globe reported at the time. City social workers discovered the body in the trash-strewn home and got Doris psychiatric help, according to the Globe.
In April 2011, the City’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) investigated the property for a complaint of an elderly person living alone with no water since 2006. ISD closed the case without a resolution on May 18, 2012 after being unable to gain access to the property.
In June 2012, Doris Warren’s letter carrier, Erica Murphy, said she watched as firefighters broke into the home and discovered the badly decomposed body of Doris, who had been dead at least a week. The scene was “revolting,” she said at the time.
A Gazette phone call to ISD was not returned by press time.
The house at 38-40 Sheridan St. (Gazette Photo by Rebeca Oliveira)