BUYER OF $525K FORECLOSURE HOME FOUND THREE BODIES INSIDE

A Connecticut man who bought a Burlington foreclosure home at auction for $525,000, without ever stepping inside, found three sets of skeletal remains there on June 14, 2026. They were later identified as the home’s previous owners, Paul and Sally Anne Cash, and their son Brian, and state police said their investigation found no foul play.

Edward A. Marchion, of Newington, first entered the Stanwich Lane house that day with three other people to look at possible renovations. Connecticut State Police described what they found as “skeletal remains,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

A neighbor told the paper, “I don’t know if I’d want the house after that.”

A house nobody got to see

Bidders at the sale inspected the property only from the outside, the New York Post reported. That is normal in Connecticut, where residents can stay in their homes during foreclosure proceedings and generally do not have to let prospective bidders in before the auction.

The court-appointed attorney overseeing the sale told Cleveland.com the home first appeared abandoned. Signs later indicated it was owner-occupied, and they warned people to keep out.

Town records show Paul and Sally Anne Cash bought the home in September 2019 for $535,000 and took out a $385,000 mortgage. A foreclosure was recorded against the property on August 6, 2025, and court records show the proceedings were finalized before the public auction was scheduled.

The sale gets frozen

On June 22, 2026, the medical examiner identified two of the three sets of remains as Sally Anne Cash and her son Brian, CT Insider reported. Testing on the third was still pending.

On July 8, 2026, Judge Joseph M. Shortall paused the sale and the transfer of the deed. His order said the pause was “pending further developments regarding the remains found,” according to the Hartford Courant.

Marchion’s lawyer, John C. Lewis III, had asked the court to reopen the foreclosure judgment. The delay was needed “so that it may be determined whether the foreclosure action is valid or defective,” he wrote in the filing.

The filing argued the process might be defective depending on when the Cashes died. If they died before the foreclosure proceedings, it said, their heirs could potentially have rights to the home. The title insurance company also raised doubts about whether the foreclosure was legally defective, CT Insider reported.

What police and the warrant say

A search warrant described the home as extremely cluttered with garbage and other items, CT Insider reported. The remains were on their backs inside sleeping bags. Two sets were in an upstairs bedroom, and the third was in a bedroom above the garage.

The Courant reported the medical examiner ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning. Decomposition complicated efforts to determine how the three died.

On September 30, 2026, state police gave an update at a press conference, NBC Connecticut reported. Police named the three as Paul Cash, Sally Cash and their son Brian Cash, and said the family lived a secluded life with little to no contact with neighbors, the community or relatives.

“What was able to be ruled out is that there was no foul play. No threat to the public,” Lt. Thomas Ehret said. No arrest or criminal charge has been reported.

Ehret said investigators could not settle on a cause of death. “As for hypothermia or malnutrition, because of the state of bodies, we can’t rule that out. But we also can’t conclusively say that’s what it was.”