A Texas man hid his dead mother’s body for more than two years, moving it between his home and a storage facility, because he was too afraid to report her death, police said.
Rogelio Bernal, 53, was charged with the destruction and concealment of a human corpse.
The gruesome discovery was made Thursday when an unidentified individual walked into a San Antonio storage facility they had won through an auction, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT.
Inside he found a trash can containing the body of an elderly woman.
The property manager told police that Bernal — who has had multiple run-ins with police — was the last person to rent the unit.
He was arrested the next day after police executed an outstanding warrant regarding drug charges lodged against him, which was also allegedly the leading factor keeping Bernal from reporting the death of his mother.
Bernal admitted to cops he had been his mother’s primary caregiver and shared an apartment with her when she fell in the shower on Oct. 31, 2021, the records state.
He rushed to check on her, finding her still breathing on the bathroom floor.
Bernal did not call 911, however, because of his extensive criminal record. He did not call when she died shortly after either.
Instead, he allegedly placed her body inside the hall closet inside the apartment, routinely covering her corpse in lye and other cleaning supplies.
After one year, he developed a gnat problem and was evicted from the home.
That’s when Bernal began renting the storage unit and moved his mother’s remains inside, according to the documents.
It’s not clear how he lost possession of the unit, or whether he planned to move the corpse another time before it was finally discovered.
Bernal is being held at Bexar County Jail on a $75,000 bond.