Neighbor discovers woman’s body in home one year after her death

LOUISA COUNTY, Va. -- By the time Toni Anderson's body was found in her Louisa mobile home, investigators believe she may have been dead for a year or more. A concerned neighbor who realized he had not seen Anderson in some time climbed in through an open window and discovered her body on October 23.

Investigators believe Anderson, who would have been 52 years old, died from natural causes.

Anderson lived alone and did not have a job where someone would have reported her missing, Louisa Sheriff's Detective Mark Stanton said. Her mobile home was situated approximately 1,000 feet away from her closest neighbor.

Toni Anderson's body was found in her Louisa mobile home

"He was concerned that he had not seen her in a long time," Stanton said of the neighbor who discovered her.  "When he went over there he got to the door and knocked and no one answered the door. He saw a window was open in the back and he climbed in and called out her name and that's when he found Miss Anderson."

Stanton said they believe from dated materials found in her home, and from calendars, it appears that she died somewhere between September 2014 and December 2014.

"She was reported to have been a private person," Stanton said. "She wasn't employed. Her father died three years prior and she was living there by herself."

It is believed she died in her sleep.

"This has been a wake-up call for us," Minister Evelima Thurston, who knew Anderson from church, said. "There are so many people out there living alone and if you know some of them, check on them. Now I wish I had called police and said please check on her. I knew that she wanted to go back to Maryland, so I assumed she just left. We shouldn't take anything for granted."

Anderson was found dead in her bed, which led investigators to believe she passed away in her sleep.

"What the sheriff's office wants to do is help the family seek closure," Stanton said. "We want to find relatives so that they can make arrangements to get their loved one with them."

Investigators have not yet been able to locate any of Anderson's family members to claim her body or make funeral arrangements. If you are able to help investigators, call the Louisa Sheriff's Office at 434-589-3007. Anyone with additional information can email a news tip here.