Woman’s Body Leads to Gruesome Discovery in Her Barn

A Michigan town has been left startled by the death of a local resident, which seemingly resulted in the demise of 12 mini ponies and a dog.

A homeowner in Gaines Township, Michigan, was found dead inside her vehicle on her property’s driveway, while 12 mini ponies and a dog were found dead inside the house and barns on the land.

When Michigan State Police troopers arrived at 64-year-old Gilda Mizell’s property, only one horse and two dogs were still alive.

According to Michigan State Police, as reported by KSLA 12, Mizell is believed to have died from natural causes while the animals consequently died of starvation, with no one to feed them. It’s currently unknown how long Mizell was dead in her car before being found by police, but results from the medical examiner are pending.

Local residents have been left scratching their heads as to how this could have happened and gone unnoticed for so long. “I was just absolutely astounded that something like this took place in our community and nobody had been aware of it prior to that,” resident Sherry Lange told KSLA 12.

Lange owns horses and said she had driven by the house before it had become overgrown with weeds following Mizell’s death. “Why did it get to this point that nobody reached out to anybody and nothing was done about it?” she asked.

“Ms. Mizell was the only caregiver for these animals and unfortunately, she’s deceased and there’s nobody that was responsible for taking care of these animals. There’s nobody else to hold accountable,” explained MSP Lt. Kim Vetter.

Despite allegations that animal control visited the premises, but decided not to continue due to the weeds, Michigan State Police outright denied any visitations or calls to the property prior to finding her body.

“It is my understanding that animal control came out here, knocked on the door, went to the barn and did not proceed in because the weeds were so grown up around the barn that they did not think that there were any animals in there,” alleged Lange.

A claim police profusely deny: “We have no call history at this residence,” said Vetter. “We have never been contacted by any neighbors or anybody in the township reporting that the horses or animals were being mistreated. And there was no evidence that anybody had called animal control about these animals prior to finding them that day.”

Newsweek has contacted Michigan State Police and Genesee County Animal Control for comment.

It hasn’t been a good news fortnight for Michigan animals, with a dog being found frozen to death on February 22. Michigan Live reported that the dog was found in its cage close to an apartment building by Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office after it received a report informing it of something wrong on February 13.

The Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) asked the public for information about the incident after it was alerted by local police.

The shelter said it had found the cage filled with faeces and covered in snow and ice. The dog was emaciated and appeared to be a young pitbull cross.

“While we don’t yet have an official cause of death, this heartbreaking case gives us an opportunity to share some important reminders,” Tanya Hilgendorf, HSHV’s CEO, said in a statement.

“Though it is still legal in Michigan to keep a dog outside when the temperature is dangerously cold, it can cause great suffering and even death. There is a bill in Michigan’s State House, HB 4784, that doesn’t ban dogs from being forced to live outside but does create stricter rules to improve protection. Better laws make a difference.”

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Original Article: Woman’s Body Leads to Gruesome Discovery in Her Barn (msn.com)