A welfare check at a home on Andrea Circle in Paintsville has turned into an active death investigation after officers found Patty Carroll dead, lying on the bed in her room. Police say the check was requested after her son and caregiver was involved in a car crash on Oct. 17, and relatives grew concerned when they couldn't reach her.
According to the fox56news.com, Carroll's son had been her primary caregiver before the crash sent him to seek medical treatment, and it was that absence that prompted family members to ask officers to check on her. The Johnson County Coroner's Office confirmed Carroll was found dead inside the Andrea Circle home, the outlet reports.
Police have not said when Carroll died or what led to her death. As wymt.com reports, the Paintsville Police Department opened its investigation after the welfare check led officers to the decomposing body, and medical examiners are now working to determine both a cause of death and a timeline for when she died.
Body Had Decomposed, Officials Say
Fox 56 reports that Carroll's body had significantly decomposed by the time she was found, though authorities have not released further details about the condition of the scene or the circumstances surrounding her death. That lack of detail has left basic questions — including exactly how long she had been deceased — unanswered for now.
Police have stressed that no criminal charges have been filed in connection with Carroll's death. The same report notes that investigators said if there's criminal charges to be filed, they will be filed, signaling the case remains open while the medical examiner's work continues.
No Threat to the Public, Police Say
Despite the unsettling nature of the discovery, authorities have repeatedly emphasized that they see no ongoing danger to Paintsville residents. Police said there is no known threat to public safety at this time, according to fox56news.com's reporting.
A separate report from the same station reiterated that investigators currently believe there is no threat to public safety, and officials have asked residents to avoid speculation while the investigation is underway, per the station's report. lex18.com adds that additional information will be released as forensic analysis becomes available, suggesting updates may be slow to come as toxicology and other testing move forward.
Mountain Top Media, which first reported on the case, says it plans to provide updates as the investigation develops, according to its report on the Mountain Top Media website. For now, the central facts remain unresolved: how long Carroll had been dead before she was found, and what ultimately caused her death, are both still in the hands of the medical examiner.
