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A North Carolina resident bought a freezer for $30 at a neighbor's yard sale — only to discover an elderly woman's body inside, police and local media said Wednesday.

The Goldsboro Police Department said the remains were confirmed to be those of a local woman who died of natural causes. It did not identify the woman.

The body was "intact and not dismembered in any way," the police department said in a statement following an autopsy Wednesday.

The woman who found the body told NBC station WRAL she bought the freezer at a neighbor's yard sale last month. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said the seller told her there were several items inside the freezer for a Sunday school project, which would be collected by a local church.

Three weeks later the woman opened the freezer and saw a frozen foot, according to WRAL. "I was just in shock," she told the station. "I opened it up for a second time and my heart went into my throat. I ran out of the house and called 911."

Police said they were called last Friday after the woman opened the fridge. Officers were investigating the class-one felony of failing to notify of the death of a person, the force added.