Virginia Woman Accused of Living with Mother's Decomposing Body for Nearly 2 Months

A Virginia woman has been charged with concealment of a body after allegedly living with her mother’s body for 44 days, covering it with more than 50 blankets and masking the smell with 60 air fresheners, according to multiple reports.

Jo-Whitney Outland, 55, was arrested after police were called to her Bristol home by a concerned relative on Feb. 11, local station WJHL, the Washington Post and the Bristol Herald Courier report.

The relative told police they had become concerned for Outland’s mother, 78-year-old Rosemary Outland, after not being able to reach her. When they went to visit her at home, the relative noticed nobody was home and decided to jump through a window, the Post reports.

Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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While inside, the relative found what they believed to be a decomposing body. Alarmed, they called the police, who investigated the scene and confirmed the relative’s suspicions, according to the Post.

The body, which was later identified as Rosemary, was found sitting in a chair covered in blankets and air fresheners.

“I pulled back the blankets, and I see the body of an elderly female under these blankets,” Sgt. Steve Crawford told the Courier. “There were all of these air fresheners around.”

Crawford left the residence and returned with a search warrant and protective suit, according to the paper.

“I went back in, took off the blankets,” Crawford said, the Courier reports. “There were 54 blankets and articles of clothing. And there were air fresheners on top of it and around it. I counted 66 different air fresheners.”

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A letter written by Outland found at the home stating that Rosemary had died on Dec. 29 and that she attempted to revive her using CPR, Crawford said. When that failed, she covered her mother’s body with blankets, refused to let relatives in and attempted to mask the smell with air fresheners, the Post reports.

Outland also allegedly slept next to her mother’s body, which showed signs of mummification, for the next two months, according to the Courier.

Rosemary is believed to have died of natural causes, Crawford told the paper.

“It looked like natural causes,” Crawford said, the Courier reports. “She left her there and didn’t report it to anybody.”

Although police believe Outland was staying at her mother’s home, she was located at a relative’s home and taken into custody, according to the Courier. She was later released.

During a police interview, she told officers that she did not call the police out of fear of being arrested, Crawford told the Post.

“Forty-four days in the house with a deceased person – what can you really say about that other than that you had to know that you had to call someone?” Crawford asked rhetorically, according to the Post.

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On Thursday, in an interview with local station WJHL, Outland described the moment her mother passed.

“She woke up and said ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ and I went over to her and I said, ‘Mom, what’s wrong you can’t breathe?’ and then she died. I tried to give her CPR, and it didn’t work,” Outland told the station outside the home Thursday afternoon.

When asked why she didn’t call police, Outland said, “I can’t explain to you how come, I couldn’t, except to tell you that I was in a situation where I couldn’t react okay, I don’t know how to explain it, I don’t know what it’s called, but I went into a mode of, just do all the things you do, and come back and stay by your mother.”

Outland will appear in court on Feb. 28. PEOPLE could not immediately locate a lawyer to speak on Outland’s behalf.