Firefighters Responded to Alarm at Burlington, CT, House Weeks Before Skeletal Remains Found

Jun. 17—BURLINGTON — Connecticut State Police said the skeletal remains of three people were found at a local home on Sunday, after a buyer purchased the property out of foreclosure.

The agency said there is no threat to the public, and the incident is not believed to be criminal in nature. State police said the identities of the three individuals have not been confirmed.

Here's what we know and don't know about the deaths:

What we know

State police began investigating Sunday

Connecticut State Police said troopers responded to the Stanwich Lane home at 4:46 p.m. Sunday "for the report of human remains located in the structure."

The buyer had purchased the home at a foreclosure auction and discovered the skeletal remains of three people, state police said.

Authorities had been called to home twice this year

In addition to state police being called to the Stanwich Lane home on Sunday, Burlington fire officials said they were also at the scene. Firefighters were called to assist law enforcement by metering the residence for carbon monoxide.

Before that, officials said, firefighters responded to the home on May 23 for an "audible alarm." They did not say how that situation was resolved.

Former owners stopped paying mortgage, home was sold

Court records show a foreclosure was initiated on the property on Aug. 1, 2025, six months after the listed property owners, Paul and Sally Anne Cash, received a notice from their mortgage service that it was in default.

The Jan. 30, 2025 letter from Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing indicated no mortgage payments were made in December or January. The couple never responded to the foreclosure complaint, records show.

The home was bought at an auction on June 6.

Niece said couple became isolated

In an interview Tuesday, Corinne Handy, Paul and Sally Cash's niece, said her aunt had become increasingly withdrawn from the family over the years.

Handy said Sally Cash is her father's sister.

"We were very close growing up. She lived with my grandparents up until she married Paul," Handy said.

After her grandmother's death in 2010, Sally largely distanced herself from the family, Handy said.

"She had a lot of social anxiety. She really kept to herself," Handy said. "She didn't have many friends."

Paul and Sally Cash were both in their 50s, public records indicate.

Sally occasionally checked in with family members, but the family had little contact with her in recent years, Handy said. She said she hadn't spoken with them for a long time, and didn't learn the couple had moved to Connecticut and about what happened until she was contacted by police.

Handy said she believes Paul, who originally was from England, had worked in information technology or an accounting-related field when the couple first married. She was unsure of what he had done more recently.

"I don't think anybody in the world knew them that well," Handy said.

State marshal unable to serve the Cashes

State Marshal Grant S. Carragher said in an interview Tuesday he initially struggled to find the home, in part due to overgrown vegetation obscuring the driveway. He said he had to contact the town assessor to locate the property.

"I had to climb over the balcony to get to the door because the trees were overgrown," Carragher said. "I couldn't get into the pathway."

Carragher said he knocked on the front door, but no one answered, adding the property seemed to have been abandoned for at least a year and the neighbor told him they had not seen residents "in years."

What we don't know

Identities of people found dead

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Wednesday that the identities of the people found dead at the home remain pending.

How and when they died

The cause and manner of their deaths will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, according to state police.

There was "no indication of anything suspicious and no indication of any criminal aspect," police said.

While police have said the remains were "skeletal," they have not disclosed how long the three had been dead inside the home.

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