A woman living in apartments in Detroit kept the body of her dead daughter hidden under blankets for more than six months, police say.

The woman is known in the neighborhood as Miss Mary, and residents say they'd see her siting on the porch nearly every day, although after a while, they said they stopped seeing her 47-year-old daughter.

Detroit police say the woman was living in one of four apartments on Seabaldt Street. She went to the police precinct on Sunday to report that her daughter had died of natural causes more than six months ago.

The woman's daughter died in November, police say, but the woman couldn't bear to part with her.

A man was also living in the unit with the mother.