PORT HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – The woman accused of dumping her mother's dead body next to a dumpster in Port Huron Township was arraigned in court on Wednesday.
Kelly Rhodes of Salem, Oregon, stood mute on a charge of removing a dead body without the Medical Examiner's permission, a one year misdemeanor.
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The 49-year-old is accused of leaving the dead body of her 89-year-old mother, Mary Gertrude (Trudy) Grenia, next to a dumpster behind a Port Huron Township Goodwill store.
A tip from someone who saw the pair at the store, prior to Grenia's death, led the sheriff's office to Rhodes.
Grenia's body was found on March 12 by a store employee who was cleaning around the dumpster. The woman had been dead for some time prior to the discovery, and had been concealed by snow and blankets.
A sketch of Grenia was made by a state police forensic artist. The sketch generated a tip which led police to Rhodes, who was staying with relatives in Belleville, Illinois.
An autopsy was unable to determine a cause of death for Grenia.
Rhodes is currently being held at the St. Clair County Intervention and Detention Center on a $10,000 cash or surety bond. She will be back in court on April 15th.
