Squatters Move Into House After Tenants Die, Have Mail Directed There: Cops

Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have said squatters, who allegedly broke into a home and occupied it after the tenants died, have had mail directed to the new residence.

Police said officers responded after a neighbor saw people enter a property near 15th and S. Yale Avenue at about 9:15 p.m. on January 15.

A police helicopter in the area saw two people as they left the back of the home and headed northbound on Yale.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Tulsa Police Department said: "The helicopter directed officers on the ground and both Vivian Gasaway and Kendall Brewer were taken into custody.

"The homeowner said the previous tenant passed away in November and the house was supposed to be vacant."

"Another neighbor said he came home and saw two people going into the house and decided to call the police. The neighbor said one of the suspects approached him and said he was currently renting the house.

"It appears the two suspects had broken into the residence multiple times and were living there for quite a while as one of them was receiving mail there."

Gasaway and Brewer were both apprehended for second-degree burglary.

According to the Tulsa Criminal Defense Law Firm, second-degree burglary in Oklahoma is punishable by between two and seven years in state prison.

Pet the latest available figures on the Tulsa police website, there were 4,407 burglaries in 2020.

This represents part of a downward trend in the city since 2014 and was the lowest number with a high of 5,780 being reported in 2017.

Newsweek has contacted the TPD for comment.

In September 2022, Arizona police found a mummified body inside a bathtub after they responded to reports of a burglary.

The Bullhead City Police Department was alerted to reports of a burglary in progress at a home near 7th Street and Palm Avenue, in Mohave County, at about 3:30 a.m. on September 10.

Officers were informed that they had not seen the resident in about a year and assumed she had moved away.

When police entered the home, they found Christine Lee Walters, 65, going through the property. They also found pry marks on the door indicating entry into the home.

A BCPD spokesperson said in a Wednesday, September 14, Facebook post: "While police were on scene, they found a deceased person in the bathtub. The deceased body was in a mummified state and is believed to be the homeowner. It is unknown how long the body had been in the house."