Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA -- Albany police responded to a house Wednesday for a routine safety check on an elderly woman after a family member had trouble getting into the home. When they arrived, they found trash and other items stacked two to three-feet high, bugs scattered throughout the house and feces strewn in the bathroom.

The woman, 90, whose name we have decided not to release, told police officers that she has lived in unsanitary conditions deliberately since her husband died in 1990. The incident report describes the house as being "covered with ants and other insects."

Bill Henderson, who has been the woman's neighbor for more than 30 years, said he fixed a door for the woman a few years ago, but has never been inside her house.

Doctors said hoarding can be triggered by a variety of things, including a traumatic experience such as the death of a spouse. 

“There times when somebody might have that type of reaction – it can be spurred on by a significant stressor,” said Dr. Cheryl Kaiser, a psychologist at Insight Psychotherapy and Assessment Services. “What we commonly find hoarding is in folks that are starting to manifest some sort of dementia."

But there are other reasons people can begin to hoard. Kaiser said obsessive behavior also can prompt people to collect items uncontrollably. “There are other folks who have problems with hoarding because they have obsessive compulsive problems – they can't stop certain thoughts that they're having.”

Henderson, who was surprised that the woman is living in squalor conditions, said the woman is very friendly, and always waves to him when she drives by his house. “I hadn't seen her out in a month or so, so she pretty well stayed inside when she was home.”

“This is extremely rare,” said Albany-Dougherty County Code Enforcement Director Michael Tilson. “There’s no legal reason at this moment for us to walk into the building.” He said a situation such as this could be a violation of the International Property Maintenance Code. Tilson, who is investigating the situation, said he could only remember one other instance of hoarding in Albany, but he said it was several years ago.

Neither the woman nor her family members could be reached for comment.