Cynthia Bouffard, 70, was found dead in her Bensalem home for at least a week, authorities said. Her son is charged with abusing a corpse.
Mar 19, 2026 11:52 am EDT
BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA — The family of the 70-year-old woman whose son did not report her death to authorities for a week, but lived with her “skeleton-like” body, is speaking out.
Cynthia Bouffard’s daughter, Carrie Acevedo, who lives out of state and is the sister of the accused 37-year-old Derrick Bouffard, 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 to Action News 6.
Carrie said she had begged her mother to come live with her, but that her mother would not leave Derrick behind.
“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.
Derrick Bouffard of Levittown was charged with abusing a corpse via summons by the Bensalem Township Police Departmentin the October incident at the Hunter Court home he shared with his mother.
He greeted police who arrived by saying, “I was just about to call you guys. My mom stopped breathing this morning.”
Police said that Cynthia Bouffard — found dead on a mattress in the living room — appeared to have been dead longer than a few hours, a criminal complaint stated. An autopsy later concluded that she had been dead for at least a week.
Her daughter said her mother spent decades working as a nurse, caring for others.
The complaint said that police found filthy conditions in the home: Insects covering the body, a strong smell in the air, fans found throughout the house, baking soda, a freezer filled with spoiled food, and a refrigerator that contained only a few items.
Derrick Bouffard served as the caretaker for his mother, who suffered from dementia and was unable to walk or speak, the complaint states.
Detectives found meal delivery records that showed him ordering food every day for months leading up to his mother being found, and that he retrieved deliveries from the front porch of the home past her body, the complaint states.