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Sisters In Brookline Home Where One Was Found Dead Were Hoarders

BROOKLINE (CBS) -- Investigators don't know the cause of death of a 67-year-old woman whose body may have been decomposing inside her Brookline home for over a year. She shared that home with her 74-year-old sister. But the Norfolk County District Attorney's office tells us the sisters who lived in the home on Clinton Road were hoarders.

According to Rebecca Wolfe, a clinical responder for the town of Arlington, "There's no cure for hoarding, but there is treatment."

Rebecca runs the town's Hoarding Response Team. Brookline has a similar program but they declined to speak to WBZ.

Wolfe told us hoarders are often ashamed of their behavior and often refuse to answer their door to anyone. She says most live isolated lives.

Arlington hoarding
Hoarding case in Arlington (Image from Arlington Police)

Brookline Police told us they went to the home three times this summer to do wellness checks and when the 74-year-old sister answered the door, she said everything was OK.

Wolfe says mental health clinicians like her are best equipped to deal with these situations and they are "respectful" with the top priority of getting hoarders help.

She says that help can include counseling, medication and instructions on how to better organize their lives.

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