EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Authorities in Connecticut say a 3-year-old girl was found living alone with her dead mother and with nothing to eat but cereal for several days in an apartment.

Police said Wednesday the 37-year-old woman's body was discovered Monday in the bedroom of an East Hartford apartment when a social worker went to check on the child, who had missed day care.

Lt. Joshua Litwin says the girl survived by eating cereal spilled on the floor. Police don't know how long the child had been living alone but say it was "definitely more than a couple of days." Investigators found no evidence of a crime.

Litwin says the girl was dehydrated but healthy. She was hospitalized.

The cause of the mother's death is pending the results of an autopsy.