Police arrested a man who lived in a house for nearly two years with the decaying body of his dead mother on Aug. 23.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Gordon Tamura found the body of Dorothy Armstrong in a reclining chair covered with blankets and tree-shaped air fresheners when doing a welfare check after a relative called with concerns about not being able to reach her.

Gerald A. Armstrong, 57, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for failure to notify the coroner of a dead body and a gross misdemeanor for the concealment of a dead body.

Armstrong was booked at the Jefferson County Jail and has since been released on his own personal recognizance by District Court Judge Mindy Walker.

Efforts to reach Gerald Armstrong were unsuccessful.

The dead woman’s stepson—Armstrong’s stepbrother—had called the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office asking for a welfare check on both the victim and Armstrong, who lived together in Brinnon. He reported that he had not spoken with either person in weeks.

The probable cause statement submitted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to the district court says that upon arriving on the scene, Deputy Tamura was greeted at the door by Armstrong, who assured Tamura that he and his mother were both fine, and that his mother was sleeping. The deputy asked to see his mother. Armstrong granted permission to the deputy to enter the residence.

Upon entering, Tamura reported that Armstrong said, “I’m going to jail.”

When Tamura asked why Armstrong said that, he pointed to a green recliner in the living room. Tamura illuminated the area with his flashlight and stated he could see what appeared to be a stockinged foot that was visible from the bottom of a blanket. When he pulled back the uppermost blanket, he could see the decomposing human remains.

Armstrong stated that his mother was in the chair and that she had been deceased for over a year and a half.

Armstrong said he and his mother lived together and that she had passed away of natural causes in September of 2017. He had found her sitting in her recliner and could not wake her.

According to the probable cause statement, Detective Shane Stevenson inquired why Armstrong did not dispose of the body to which he replied, “I just didn’t think. I just left it there. I said the Hell with it. What was I going to do, bury her outside? That part of me shut down.”

Armstrong stated that he had continued to receive $1,400 of income that his mother was receiving from his father’s estate. That money was directly deposited each month into a bank account he shared with his mother.

After receiving a warrant from District Court Judge Mindy Walker, investigators searched the residence and found that the remains of the woman had obviously been in that position and location for a long time.

“The decomposition of the body was to a point that odor was minimal,” stated Detective Derek Allen in the probable cause statement. “Insects were present, however appeared to have already gone through their lifecycle. Minimal fluids of any sort appeared to be present.”

An autopsy was completed on Aug. 26 and the investigation into the case is still ongoing, said deputy prosecuting attorney Chris Ashcraft.