A Perry Township woman who was found dead inside her home this summer after authorities executed a search warrant there died from natural causes, according to the Franklin County Coroner's Office.
Maia Mertz, 85, was found dead Aug. 19 at her Perry Township home in the 1300 block of Oakbourne Drive. Police officers from both Perry Township and Upper Arlington were executing a search warrant in connection to a financial fraud investigation when they discovered her body in the home. She was pronounced dead there at 9:34 p.m.
Three people who were at the home were detained, questioned, and later released. Two of them were sisters, and the third person was a boyfriend of one of the sisters. As of Oct. 26, no charges have been filed in connection with
the investigation.
The coroner's report states that Mertz's body underwent "extensive mummification" by the time she was discovered, and several organs were absent due to the deterioration of the body. Mertz also had multiple health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease, according to the report.
While the report says that Mertz's body had significantly deteriorated, a spokesperson for the coroner's office could not say how long she had been deceased before her body was found.
Mertz was a retired Ohio State University professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, according to her LinkedIn page and the OSU faculty and staff directory. She retired in 2007, according to her LinkedIn page.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Coroner releases cause of Perry Township woman's death after body found
