PARAGOULD -- A woman hid the remains of her boyfriend in her Fourth Avenue home for nearly a year so she could continue collecting his Social Security benefits after he died, Paragould police say. She now faces charges of abusing a corpse and fraud.
Gloria Marie Tensley, 65, is to be arraigned today in Greene County District Court, said Lt. Ken Jackson of the Paragould Police Department. Tensley is being held in the Greene County jail in Paragould in lieu of a $75,000 bond.
Police said Allen Trabaugh, 36, had been renting a room from Tensley at her home on 122 N. Fourth Ave. for about three months when he noticed a "strange smell." Tensley told Trabaugh not to enter one bedroom when he moved into the home, Jackson said.
Trabaugh went into the bedroom Tuesday and discovered skeletal remains of a person, police said. He notified police Tuesday evening. The man had been dead for nearly a year, Jackson said.
Officials sent the body to the state Crime Laboratory for positive identification, but police said they suspect that the body is that of Tensley's boyfriend.
The officer said Tensley is suspected of using her boyfriend's debit card to spend his monthly Social Security checks that were deposited into his account after his death.
Police do not suspect foul play in the man's death.
"We've had some strange things happen in Paragould," Jackson said. "But this one takes the cake."
State Desk on 07/21/2016