Florida Woman Hid Corpse In Trash Can To Collect Benefits, Deputies Say

A Florida woman is facing charges after a neighbor found a decomposing body in a trash can he was holding for her, according to ClickOrlando.

Manatee County deputies arrested 48-year-old Michelle Haney last Wednesday (December 9), investigators saying she stuffed a dead man's body in a trash can.

Haney told authorities the corpse is that of 40-year-old Jon Christopher Leonard, who died back in July. She and Leonard were living together at the time, and Haney admitted to keeping his body to continue receiving his benefits.

"Investigators said Haney stored Leonard's body in a closet, before sealing it in a trash can three weeks later," reporters said. That's when she brought the trash can to the neighbor's house, telling him that she'll be back for it later. Authorities added that the neighbor wasn't aware of what was inside the container. He opened it when he smelled an odor coming from it.

Haney was charged with abuse of a corpse, ClickOrlando said.

In October, a Virginia man crashed his car in Miami-Dade County. When authorities tended to the accident, they picked up on a foul odor coming from the trunk of the man's car. When they opened it, a decomposing body was there.

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