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Woman's remains found in occupied house

NECEDAH — A sheriff’s deputy discovered the remains of a 90-year-old woman on a toilet in a house she shared with a woman and two children, authorities said Friday.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth charged 35-year-old Tammy Lewis and 57-year-old Alan Bushey (pronounced “boo-SHAY”) with two felony counts of being a party to causing mental harm to a child. Lewis was also charged with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor.

By Friday night, the children had been placed in foster care, both adults remained in custody and an autopsy had been done but results won’t be available for some time, said Sheriff Brent Oleson. “At this time we don’t know what the cause of death was,” he said. “Quite frankly it might have been natural causes.”

He described the one-story home in the town of Necedah as in decent repair, although the residents had been using “makeshift” toilet facilities because of the situation in the one bathroom. “It’s a sad case and we’ll continue to investigate it and try to ascertain just what occurred up there,” Oleson said.

According to the criminal complaint, Bernice Metz contacted the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday and asked if a deputy could check on her 90-year-old sister, Magdeline Alvina Middlesworth. Metz said no one had heard from Middlesworth for some time.