The son of a 70-year-old woman found dead in her Bensalem home is now charged with abusing a corpse, as police say he failed to report her death for more than a week.
Police were called to the home on Hunter Court in October after a neighbor reported a foul odor. The home was shared by Cynthia Bouffard and her son, 37-year-old Derrick Bouffard, authorities said.
According to police, Derrick Bouffard answered the door and told officers, “I was just about to call you guys, my mom stopped breathing this morning.”
Inside, officers found Cynthia Bouffard’s body on a mattress in the family room. Police said she was emaciated and decomposing, weighing 60 pounds. The coroner believes she had likely been dead for nearly two weeks.
“It’s awful. You grow up, you expect your kids to take care of you a little bit,” a neighbor said.
Police said Derrick Bouffard had been ordering food to the home one to three times a day, both before and after his mother’s death, and had to walk past her body to reach the front door.
Cynthia Bouffard’s daughter, Carrie Acevedo, who lives out of state and is the sister of the accused, said she is struggling with conflicting emotions.
“I feel super conflicted. I know my mom loves my brother very much. I don’t want to feel hate for my brother,” she said.
She described her mother as glamorous, loving and fiercely independent.
Carrie said she had begged her mother to come live with her, but that her mother would not leave Derrick behind.
She said it is suspected her mother suffered from severe dementia but was never formally diagnosed, and that she and her uncle believed Derrick was caring for her because he had lived with her for years. Carrie said her mother spent decades working as a nurse, caring for others.
“It feels like a movie. It doesn’t feel like it’s real life. I feel regret for not being there, for not doing more,” she said.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said that based on the medical examiner’s report, it does not appear Cynthia Bouffard was being denied food and that she died of medical causes.
Derrick Bouffard could not be reached for comment. He is due in court for a preliminary hearing next month.