YORK, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video is from Feb. 2020.
A Pennsylvania judge has declined to dismiss some charges against a woman accused of having kept her maternal grandmother’s remains in a freezer for a decade and a half and continuing to receive the dead woman’s Social Security checks for a portion of that time.
The York Daily Record reports that the York County judge on Friday rejected defense arguments that the statute of limitations had expired for charges of theft and receiving stolen property against 62-year-old Cynthia Black.
She is also charged with abuse of a corpse, among other related charges.
On February 7, 2019 around 5:00 p.m., State Police received a call from people inspecting the property on Kralltown Road in Warrington Township to potentially buy it from the bank, Fannie Mae.
While the callers were inspecting an outbuilding on the property, they proceeded to check inside of a white chest freezer.
Upon opening it, they discovered skeletal remains of a human in black trash bags. It was found that a blanket had been placed over the bags.
Police arrived on the scene and confirmed that human remains were found.
After a search of the previous listed owners of the property, police discovered that Cynthia Black was the last known owner.
Police were able to find Black’s address on S. Front Street in York Haven Borough, and conducted a traffic stop on her vehicle, leading to a roadside interview.
Black went with State Police to their headquarters in York for an interview, during which she said she was the last owner of the property prior to foreclosure.
She also told police that she owned the freezer in question, and knew exactly when the freezer was locked and unplugged.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Black said that she cared for her grandmother, Glenora Delahay.
Black told police that she received financial compensation from Delahay for the care, and continued to receive the financial compensation meant for Delahay after her death.
She admitted to police that she failed to acknowledge Delahay’s death and believed she may still be alive at 112 years of age.
Police proceeded to search Black’s home, where they seized various items of drug paraphernalia and a large box with various financial documents.
On May 26, 2020 police filed an arrest warrant for Black.
The next day, she was taken into custody.