A boy discovered a mummified corpse hanging by the neck in an empty, dusty house in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, CNN reported.

Neighbors said the house seemed to be abandoned for a while and appeared to have no people living in it, spokesman Ken Betz from the Montgomery County Coroner's office said.

The mummified corpse had been rotting in there for the past five years until the boy decided to explore the ramshackle house, officials said.

While the house was reported to be unfurnished, citations were plastered all over the front door complaining about the overgrown yard. According to CNN, no one was witnessed arriving and leaving from the address.

Hanging from a rope in the closet, the mummified corpse was confirmed to be the body of Edward Brunton.

Although the official cause and manner of his death has not been clarified yet, officials said it appeared to be a case of suicide.

Brunton, who would have been in his late 40s at that time, is estimated to have hanged himself in the fall of 2009, Betz said.

His mummy-like condition probably resulted from his placement in the closet, prompting the shielding of his body from rapid decomposition, animals and insects.

"Because of the location where he was found, it was relatively protected, sunlight-protected, temperature-protected and low humidity," coroner Kent Harshbarger told CNN affiliate WDTN.

Apart from having not much contact or interaction with his neighbors, Brunton was also estranged from his family and friends, leading to no one suspecting his death or reporting him as a missing person, Betz said.

Michelle McGrath, the boy's mother, found everything to be ordinary when she went to investigate the house. However, she detected the corpse as soon as she entered the room.

McGrath immediately contacted the police, CNN reported.

"When I crossed the threshold of the room, is when I smelled it," she said.

Brunton's estranged brother recognized him and confirmed the body's identification documents, authorities said.