As a Texas couple was moving into their new home in Houston on Saturday, they made an unpleasant discovery: Bones, visible through a space in the attic wall.
It was possible the bones were the remains of the previous owner, who vanished two years ago. Along with the mortal remains, the new homeowners found red eyeglasses, of the type the house's previous owner was known to wear.
But who, if anyone, hid the bones - or why they were in the house - remained a mystery, according to local authorities.
The bungalow's previous owner, Mary Cerruti, went missing in 2015. She was 61. To the Houston Chronicle, neighbours described Cerruti as kind and introverted.
She ceased to pay her mortgage in 2014. The grass began to grow high around the house, a 1930s bungalow worth US$400,000 (4575,000). Her mail began to accumulate. Neighbours notified the police that they had not seen her; a missing-person report was filed in 2015.