LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles County coroners are trying to confirm that a badly decomposed body found in the home of former Playboy Playmate and B-movie actress Yvette Vickers is hers.
A neighbor discovered the body in a mummified state last week, police told the Los Angeles Times.
The body appeared to have gone undiscovered for an unknown period of time - anywhere from several months to a year - and investigators weren't able to determine if it was the remains of a man or woman, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said.
Neighbor Susan Savage told the Times she saw letters and cobwebs in Vickers' mailbox before going into her neglected home in the Benedict Canyon area to discover what she believed to be the actress's unrecognizable remains.
"The letters seemed untouched and were starting to yellow," Savage said. "I just had a bad feeling."
When she entered the house, Savage said she moved through stacks of clutter before finding the body upstairs in a room with a small space heater still on.
The 82-year-old Vickers had appeared in cult movies such as "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" and "Attack of the Giant Leeches." The voluptuous blonde was Playboy's Playmate of the Month in July 1959.
Savage said she remembered her neighbor as an elegant woman with flowing blond hair and "a warm smile."
"She kept to herself, had friends and seemed like a very independent spirit," Savage said. "To the end she still got cards and letters from all over the world requesting photos and still wanting to be her friend."