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Deputies: Mother, Son's Bodies Discovered In Wis.

STONE LAKE, Wis. (WCCO/AP) -- Sheriff's officials in northwestern Wisconsin say the bodies of an elderly woman and her son have been found in their home and that the mother may have been dead for years.

When a postal worker notified authorities that mail was uncollected at the rural Stone Lake home in Washburn County, deputies discovered the body of 67-year-old Michael Egan on a bedroom floor. Officials believe he may have been dead for at least a week. They also searched for Egan's mother, Elizabeth, without success. Ramsey County, Minn., Search and Rescue later joined the effort and the woman's remains were found on a couch under sleeping bags and plastic in June.

"Apparently her son Michael had been preserving her by using rags dipped in a solution, so she was fairly well preserved," said newspaper reporter Kathy Hanson of the Sawyer County Record.

WQOW-TV says the woman was last seen six years ago. But Hanson quotes a Washburn County Sheriff's investigator as saying the son may have lived with his mother's body since 2008.

Investigators said the woman's Social Security checks were directly deposited into her bank account and that Michael Egan was using the account.

The mother and son are now buried beside each other in the Stone Lake cemetery.

Authorities decided not to conduct autopsies or further investigate the deaths.

WCCO's Steve Murphy Interviews Kathy Hanson

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(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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