{"id":19030,"date":"2025-06-27T12:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T12:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/19030\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T12:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T12:23:08","slug":"hoarding-not-just-unhealthy-it-can-hit-dangerous-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/19030\/","title":{"rendered":"hoarding not just unhealthy, it can hit dangerous level"},"content":{"rendered":"

The case of a former police detective who was found dead under impenetrable piles of garbage and more is an extreme example of hoarding, but the disorder<\/a> isn\u2019t just considered a hindrance to someone\u2019s ability to function, it can also be dangerous.<\/p>\n

The dangers often come from the hazards posed by people who keep so many things that they eventually have to create piles high enough that something could potentially fall and either hurt them or, in more serious cases, even kill them, according to Dr. Tobias Wasser<\/a>, chair of psychiatry at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hoarders also tend to store heaps of things in what would generally be considered living spaces, which makes them difficult to clean and can lead to buildup of dust mites, mold, pet feces or other conditions that could cause respiratory problems, said Wasser.<\/p>\n

Most cases don\u2019t rise to the extremes that they lead to death. The case of retired Bridgeport Police Det. Mary Notarangelo<\/a> appears to be one of the more serious examples of hoarding.<\/p>\n

Notarangelo is believed to have died sometime in early June 2024, but her skeletal remains were not found in her Glastonbury home until February, as extensive efforts by police, fire crews and other officials were not enough to get into her home and fully search it, according to reports filed by the Glastonbury Police Department<\/a>. Police initially could not get into the home at all because of the numerous piles of what was described as miscellaneous items and garbage, the reports said.<\/p>\n

Even after getting into the home, completing a full and thorough search of the residence was nearly impossible. Attempts from first responders included sending a drone inside and using ladder trucks from the fire department to break second-story windows to access a bedroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard of situations where a family member passes away, others are not in contact with them, and they\u2019re later discovered in their home,\u201d Wasser said. \u201cThat happens, I would say, not infrequently. But then to find that they were not discoverable even in their own home because of the accumulation of material inside, that is very rare. I\u2019ve not encountered that before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wasser said he cannot speak to whether Notarangelo was ever clinically diagnosed with hoarding disorder \u2014 which became officially recognized as a mental health disorder in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know the individual, never was involved in their care,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen the specific setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In general, however, Wasser said, \u201cthe inability to enter someone\u2019s home would be an example of a very extreme situation and the potential ramifications of hoarding disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

How police and others got into the house<\/p>\n

According to the reports, police were first contacted by a friend of Notarangelo on July 3, 2024, after he said he had not heard from her in several weeks. When he went to check on her at her Toll Gate Road home, the man noticed groceries that appeared to have been delivered and picked through by animals.<\/p>\n

The man told police he had not heard from Notarangelo since around June 12, 2024, when she had been complained of abdominal cramps and vomiting and said she had fallen down at one point, the report said. Mail piled up in her mailbox was dated back to the middle of June, and two vehicles registered to her sat in the driveway.<\/p>\n

After no one answered a number of knocks on the door, police found that the home was unsecured in multiple places, police reports said. But each of the three doors authorities found leading into the home could not be opened, as piles of \u201cjunk and garbage\u201d that were described as \u201cmountains\u201d of random items blocked them, police wrote.<\/p>\n

Police pursued every avenue they could think of to find out what happened to Notarangelo. They contacted area hospitals, both the Bridgeport and New Britain police departments<\/a> \u2014 where she had worked as a detective and a dispatcher, respectively \u2014 called her last known phone number, which went to voicemail, and tried pinging the location of her phone, the reports said. Her cell phone carrier said there was no activity on the device in the past 48 hours, making it impossible to get its last known location.<\/p>\n

Crews with the Glastonbury Fire Department<\/a> were able to pry open the front door and remove it, which revealed more \u201cheaps of garbage,\u201d cobwebs and a terrible odor, the reports said. Wearing tyvek suits, gloves and a double-layer of surgical masks, two officers climbed over piles of garbage as high as 6 feet to search each room, with the exception of what appeared to be a bedroom they could not access, according to the reports.<\/p>\n

Police said there was \u201cno path whatsoever\u201d through the mountains of garbage, the reports said. The home was filled with cobwebs, spiders and mice. Officers also found several dead birds in cages and a cat that was alive, but there was no sign of Notarangelo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we were unable to locate her, we could not say for certainty that she was not in any of the rooms due to the vast amounts of garbage that could be burying her\u2026,\u201d an officer wrote.<\/p>\n

Fire crews would later use a ladder truck to smash a window that appeared to lead to the only room police could not get into, the reports said. They found a bathroom that seemed to lead to the bedroom, but for \u201chealth and safety reasons,\u201d decided not to trudge through the piles of toilet paper in a room that smelled of urine and feces, an officer wrote.<\/p>\n

Fire crews then used a ladder to extend to another window in the backyard, which a firefighter climbed through wearing an oxygen mask and a hazmat suit. When he came out, he said he could not find Notarangelo but was unsure if she was inside, as the sheer amount of garbage made it impossible to tell, the report said.<\/p>\n

Connecticut State Police<\/a> responded to the home to assist with a cadaver dog, but they had no luck, the report said. A police officer with the Manchester Police Department<\/a> sent a drone into the home to search each room, but when it entered a shower it appeared to get caught in the massive amount of cobwebs and strike a wall, rendering it inoperable.<\/p>\n

Police scoured through Notarangelo\u2019s phone records and tried reaching anyone who had had recent contact with her, finding that she had missed multiple medical appointments and stopped ordering groceries in the second week of June 2024, the report said. They were able to reach a family member, but he told an officer the two only really spoke to each other on their birthdays and had not talked recently.<\/p>\n

Two days after the initial report, a hazmat team made an attempt to get inside and search the home, but Notarangelo was not found, police reports said. Her disappearance was filed as a missing person investigation, and a Silver Alert was issued. Several days later, an environmental services crew entered the home but was also unable to find Notarangelo, the reports said. The next day, police searched the area around the home and found nothing. In November, when the trees and bushes around the home were bare, police returned to search the surrounding area but again could not find her.<\/p>\n

In the months that followed, police collected Notarangelo\u2019s mail, kept her case open and continued searching through phone records, the reports said.<\/p>\n

Police returned to the home on Feb. 24 with a cleanup crew and a dumpster. The crew had a small excavator that was used to move piles of things through the front door of the home. Within minutes of the cleanup starting, they found Notarangelo near the front door inside the home, the reports said. Her body had decomposed to the point where it was mostly only skeletal remains, police wrote.<\/p>\n

The remains were found under what was described as \u201cseveral feet\u201d of clothing, blankets and garbage, according to the reports.<\/p>\n

Her body had decomposed so much that an autopsy could not determine how she died. Police indicated in their reports that the case was closed in March.<\/p>\n

Being messy does make you a hoarder<\/p>\n

According to Wasser, a hoarding disorder diagnosis can only come from a licensed mental health professional. Not everyone who\u2019s disorganized is considered a hoarder, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of us are very clean and orderly, and some are less clean and orderly,\u201d Wasser said. \u201cAnd if you go to different people\u2019s homes, to see family or your friends, you\u2019ve seen different versions of that, but the real key differentiator between a messy and disorganized person versus a hoarder is two things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first involves the sheer volume of things that have been accumulated and whether it impairs someone\u2019s daily life.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if you can\u2019t navigate a home, if they\u2019re unable to find things routinely or if they\u2019re becoming unsanitary,\u201d Wasser said these can all be signs of hoarding.<\/p>\n

The other aspect to look for is the anxiety that could arise from the idea of throwing things out, he said. The example he uses is someone who has fallen behind on cleaning or clearing things from their home. The idea of throwing away a pile of old magazines that haven\u2019t been used in some time will likely not have much of an effect on this type of person, he said.<\/p>\n

But a hoarder would likely become \u201cextremely distressed\u201d at the thought of getting rid of them, according to Wasser. He added that those with hoarding disorder often believe they will have a use for items somewhere in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would become almost panicked at the idea of removing the items from the home, and that\u2019s really the key differentiation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Wasser, the attachment hoarders often feel for items has nothing to do with monetary value or even sentimental value.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are items that even the individual would not say are valuable,\u201d Wasser said. \u201cThere\u2019s no meaning attached to it, whether it\u2019s financial or emotional, but it\u2019s the act of parting with it is what is distressing, regardless of what the thing is.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services<\/a>, hoarding is estimated to affect between 2-6% of the population around the nation. In addition to refusing to discard things, an individual with hoarding disorder may also experience an issue with excessively acquiring things.<\/p>\n

The Hartford Healthcare Institute of Living<\/a> advises that hoarding is considered a neurobiological disorder. What causes it is not fully understood, but it likely has some genetic component, as it tends to run in families.<\/p>\n

How someone is raised is also likely a contributing factor, Wasser said. Treatment is usually done through therapy and could include prescribed medications, though there currently is no established medication that simply treats hoarding disorder alone, he said.<\/p>\n

According to Hartford Healthcare, there is no \u201ccure\u201d for hoarding disorder. Treatment usually begins with weekly group meetings for four to five months where individuals practice sorting and parting with possessions.<\/p>\n

In many cases, the Institute of Living advises, adults with hoarding disorder cannot be forced to get treatment. Many friends and family find their loved ones in a situation where individuals refuse to acknowledge that they have a problem. Throwing things away without someone\u2019s permission is likely to lead to an argument and won\u2019t help them acquire the skills needed to move forward to address the problem on their own, according to Hartford Healthcare.<\/p>\n

The state DMHAS recommends anyone interested in finding out about treatment options contact the department at 860-550-5795 or visit its website<\/a> for more resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The case of a former police detective who was found dead under impenetrable piles of garbage and more…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[6265,2738,17963,7000,4446,2103,17961,7001,17964,210,17757,17962,5022,728,17958,517,17960,17959,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-19030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-autopsy","9":"tag-connecticut","10":"tag-connecticut-news","11":"tag-ct-news","12":"tag-death","13":"tag-glastonbury","14":"tag-glastonbury-police-department","15":"tag-hartford-courant","16":"tag-hartford-healthcare-institute-of-living","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-hoarding","19":"tag-hoarding-death","20":"tag-investigation","21":"tag-local-news","22":"tag-mary-notarangelo","23":"tag-mental-health","24":"tag-quinnipiac","25":"tag-retired-detective","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114755312417084989","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}