The discovery of a woman's skeleton has prompted policy change among Regina's utility service providers.

Last year, the estranged family of a Regina woman asked police to check on her.

Officers found her at the home tucked in bed, but all that remained of her body were bones.

"Essentially what (officers) saw was the skeletal remains of a female who had gone to sleep and passed away," said Superintendent Corey Zaharuk, who is in charge of the Regina Police Criminal Investigation Division.

"This woman had been deceased for quite some time — maybe upwards of two years. To find skeletal remains is very unusual and I've never seen a case like that in Regina."

Superintendent Corey Zaharuk, who is in charge of the Regina Police Criminal Investigation Division, called the case 'exceptional' because of the nature of decay. (CBC)

Both police and the Office of the Chief Coroner attended the scene in April 2017.

The woman's name has not been released, nor has the location of her residence, but it's estimated she had died one or two years before her remains were found.

Coroner asks service providers to tweak policy

Coroner Victoria McGinley investigated the death. Afterward, she recommended SaskPower, SaskEnergy and the City of Regina review current policy.

She recommended said service providers contact police to check on a resident if they are unable to contact them, prior to disconnecting heat, water or power.

She said that despite efforts of the agencies to collect money, like phone calls, mailing letters or attending the residence, "There was no personal contact with (the woman) who was found deceased in (the) residence."

McGinley wrote that it was impossible to determine if the woman was alive when her services were disconnected.

"... a request for the police to conduct a welfare check prior to services being discontinued may have enabled the appropriate help to be provided if (she) was still alive, or if found dead that (her) demise, be handled in a timely and more dignified manner," the recommendation said.

Changes follow

In an emailed statement, a SaskEnergy spokesperson said the company already had a policy in place for stopping service in the winter.

They said the customer must be contacted in person, and the company may contact a family member if they don't think the person understands. If that option is unavailable, they'd call a community organization.

SaskEnergy said it will now include a police welfare check prior to any disconnection of service in the winter months.

The spokesperson said SaskEnergy had not provided service to this woman's home for several years before the time the woman likely died.

SaskPower has developed a new internal process for wellness checks but it hasn't been implemented among all frontline employees, yet, said a spokesperson in a statement.

The City of Regina utility area has also made changes, said a City spokesperson in an email. This includes extra attempts to make in-person contact during bill collection and follow up after a disconnection. This could result in the City calling police.

Police urge people to be good neighbours

The situation prompted Regina Police to remind people to "be a good neighbour."

Police have encouraged people to call if they notice an absence or something out-of-the-ordinary activity like stacks of mail or an unkempt lawn.

Zaharuk noted the neighbours in this particular situation were not to blame.

He said there were stacks of mail outside her home and that she had been described as a hoarder.

Conversations between Regina Police Service, the Office of the Chief Coroner, the City of Regina and Crown Corporations led to the 'good neighbour' campaign. (Regina Police Service)

"The house was filled with numerous items, boxes. It was very difficult to even walk from point A to point B in a room," he said.

"We have individuals who live in our city and elsewhere that very much live a life where they keep to themselves."

That means people who die alone can still go undiscovered for lengthy periods of time.

But the RPS good neighbour reminder aims to reduce those cases.

Dealing with death is difficult in the immediate hours and days, but "if there is now an advanced stage of decomposition it's even more traumatic for the family to see that," Zaharuk said.