A new homeowner in Burlington, Connecticut, made a grim discovery shortly after purchasing a foreclosed property at auction: three skeletal remains inside the residence.
State police received the call on Sunday at 4:46 p.m. from the new owner reporting the bodies. The medical examiner has determined there is no indication of foul play or criminal activity, though a formal cause of death has not been established. The three individuals have not yet been identified.
The property had changed hands in 2019, but the foreclosure process did not begin until August 2025. Court records show the home was approved for auction on March 23, with the sale held on June 6. The property was sold in "as is condition" to the winning bidder.
Marshal Grant Carragher told CTInsider that the original buyers have been unreachable throughout the foreclosure proceedings. He believes the house had sat abandoned for at least a year, with neighbors reporting they hadn't seen anyone living there for years.
Foreclosure auctions typically do not require sellers to grant interior access to potential bidders before the sale. Chris Thogmartin, the court-appointed independent attorney overseeing the auction, explained the standard practice. "I always send out a letter the week before the auction saying it would be helpful for the bidders to have interior access, but you're not required to provide this," Thogmartin said. "We never got a response to that, which is not unusual."
The discovery of the remains has thrown the sale into legal limbo. In a court motion filed this week, Thogmartin noted the bodies were "in an advanced state of decomposition, indicating that they had been there for some time."
He raised a significant concern: the identity of the remains and the time of death could determine whether the foreclosure judgment itself remains valid. The discovery poses "a possible question as to the validity of the foreclosure judgment," according to the motion.
Thogmartin has asked the court for direction on how to proceed, including the possibility of returning the winning bidder's $82,000 deposit if the auction and closing are canceled as a result of the discovery.
Author James Rodriguez: "A foreclosure auction should not turn into a criminal mystery, but this case exposes just how little oversight exists when properties are sold sight unseen in their worst condition."
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