Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, and this week on Pushing Up Lilies, we’re diving into one of the most heartbreaking and unusual cases I’ve ever seen. Retired Connecticut police detective Mary Notarangelo vanished in June 2024, and wasn’t found for seven months. When she was finally discovered, her skeletal remains were buried under piles of debris in her own home, surrounded by trash, cobwebs, dead birds, and heartbreaking hoarding conditions.

In this episode, we’ll talk about Mary’s life, her mysterious disappearance, and the disturbing conditions that made her discovery so difficult. As a former investigator, it’s hard to imagine someone going undetected for so long, especially someone who once wore the badge herself.
Let’s take a closer look at how this could happen, the red flags, and what this case reveals about isolation, mental health, and the haunting silence that sometimes follows retirement.

Tune in, and let’s uncover the story buried beneath the surface.

* Listener discretion is advised.