KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A woman's dead body was lying on the floor for months in a home she shared with her nephew before police got a welfare call in early January, according to a report from the Knoxville Police Department.
On Jan. 6, KPD said it received a call for a welfare check on 84-year-old Betty Kinsland, who was bedridden. The caller said Kinsland had not been seen nor heard from since Thanksgiving 2023. The caller also told dispatchers she lived with her nephew, Richard Bunch, 57, at a home on Macedonia Lane. The caller said social security benefits were still being sent to the home.
One officer arrived at the home at around 7:54 p.m. The house was dark and several of the windows were covered, but the officer said there were several dead flies in the front window panel. While waiting for another officer to arrive, a neighbor left his home and told the officer that Bunch still lived in the house.
Officers said they saw Bunch sitting inside the house through a window. They knocked on the door and windows for around 30 minutes before Bunch responded. The police report said he started yelling at officers through the closed front door while officers told him they were there to check on Kinsland.
Bunch told officers that she died around six months ago, and said an ambulance had already taken the body and cremated her. While he could not give officers a specific day she died, he said she died sometime in the spring.
According to the police report, the Medical Examiner's Office had no record of Kinsland or cremation certificates under her name. It also said the last time she had been in a hospital was June 2022.
While officers reached out to American Medial Response about the possible ambulance call, Bunch left the house and started speaking with officers. The police report said he continued insisting she was taken away by AMR after dying. He also refused to let officers into the home.
Officers also contacted other family members, who said they thought Kinsland was still alive.
Eventually, Bunch allowed officers to search the home, but said he had a bed bug infestation. So, KPD asked for hazmat suits. While waiting for the suits to arrive, Bunch told an officer that Kinsland was still inside the home after dying around seven months ago.
Investigators then responded with the Medical Examiner, who found Kinsland's body lying on the floor of the living room.
Bunch was then taken to the Public Safety Building, where he was questioned. He told investigators that in the spring, he left to get lunch with his brother. When he arrived back home, he said he found her dead in the living room.
At first, he said he thought about calling first responders but decided not to. He said he was afraid of becoming homeless, and said he did not touch the body. He said he lived in another part of the home for months, avoiding the area where she died.
Bunch was released, while Kinsland was taken to the Knox County Medical Examiner by an ambulance. KPD also notified the next of kin.