A Pennsylvania woman said she did not know her 8-year-old son was dead until she noticed the smell of his body that lay rotting inside her home, Penn Live reported.
Kimberly Tutko, of Harrisburg, was at home last Friday when she noticed a peculiar smell. Her husband went upstairs to the third floor and returned moments later with her son's body wrapped in a sheet.
When Tutko saw the body she realized to her horror that he was already decomposing. Her husband, Jarrod Nicholas Tutko, said he died on Tuesday.
"I said to him, 'Why didn't you say anything?' " the mother of six told Penn Live. "He said he was too afraid to say anything because of the other kids in the house."
Police later arrived at the home on North Green Street at around 9 p.m. when the mother called 911. Both parents were taken into custody but Kimberly Tutko was later released.
Jarrod Tutko, the primary caregiver of the 8-year-old victim who had autism and other developmental disorders, was arrested Saturday and charged with endangering the welfare of children, concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse, Penn Live reported.
A cause of death has not yet been determined, but "it's certainly suspicious," Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico told Penn Live. An autopsy is expected to take place on Monday, he said.
The victim, Jarrod Jr., was kept in a room on the home's third floor and wasn't easy to handle, his mother said. He smeared his feces on the wall and floor and refused to wear his diaper. He also tore up the carpeting in his bedroom.
As police conduct their investigation, the Tutko's five other children, ranging from ages 3 to 13, are in the custody of child services. Some of the children also suffer from medical issues, including one who is deaf, the station reported.
If is not clear if the father posted his $500,000 bail. Kimberly Tutko has not been charged in relation to her son's death.
