Woman, 90, living with siblings’ bodies

EVANSTON, ILL. – A 90-year-old woman well-liked by her neighbors apparently has been living in a house with the bodies of three siblings, one of whom may have been dead since the early 1980s, police say.

Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther says the bodies were found Friday in Evanston, a Chicago suburb, after authorities were called by a senior advocate.

The woman was taken to a hospital for observation. Her identity was not released. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Saturday that the people had died of natural causes, but it would not say how long they had been dead.

The office has identified the dead as Anita Bernstorff, who was born in 1910, Frank Bernstorff, who was born in 1920, and Elaine Bernstorff, who was born in 1916. Anita Bernstorff was last seen alive in May 2008, Frank Bernstorff in 2003 and Elaine Bernstorff in the early 1980’s, authorities said.

Neighbors described the woman as alert and aware, and said she enjoyed gardening and shared her plants with others.