Human Skeleton Discovered in That Heights House That Wouldn’t Sell to Trammell Crow

HUMAN SKELETON DISCOVERED IN THAT HEIGHTS HOUSE THAT WOULDN’T SELL TO TRAMMELL CROW 610 Allston St., Houston Heights, Houston, 77007A skeleton and some tattered cloth were discovered this weekend in an attic crawlspace in that house on Allston St. now neighbored on 3 sides by the 5-story Alexan Heights apartment complex, which occupies most of the Yale St. block between 6th St. and the Heights hike & bike trail. The home’s then-owner, Mary Cerruti, was reported missing in September of 2015, having been last seen for sure in the spring. ABC13 reports that investigators reportedly searched the house when Cerruti disappeared, but found only the bodies of several dead cats. Police are now trying to figure out whether or not the skeleton is Cerruti’s; it’s also not yet clear whether the skeleton came to land in the crawl space with assistance, or by its own doing. [ABC13; previously on Swamplot] Photo of 610 Allston St.: HAR

13 Comment

  • Such a bizarre story. The weirdest part is that the house hasn’t truly “sat empty” for the past two years as the article implies. It had a facelift – overgrowth chopped down, abandoned car removed, brand new paint job – so you would have to imagine they at least did some minimal interior renovations also. You can even still see the old, yellow, overgrown house when you look at Google Maps. All of that has happened since the owner went missing and the house was foreclosed on.

    Unless the renovator never once went inside the property, I don’t understand how he/she wouldn’t have discovered at least the dead cats. Or am I missing something here?

  • Shepherdshack, they discovered the cats back in 2015 and likely attributed the entire odor to that.

  • this would explain why the owner was able to hold out so long

  • Murderers in Houston dont bother hiding the body, my guess is she got stuck in the attack trying to save one of her cats that was stuck in there. pretty bad way to go.

  • She may have been content to know she saved the cat.

  • If Ms. Cerruti was the previous owner, did ownership transfer bc the house was foreclosed? (She was paying a mortgage still?!) And if so, the bank took ownership, cleaned up the dead cats, sprayed some Febreeze, and then started leasing out the property? (Or sold it and someone else who is now leasing out the property?) All this while here was a missing persons case open? Strange.

  • Knob and tube wiring in the attic?

  • Well this sure makes me confident in the ability of local investigative teams….

  • We’ve updated the article to clarify that the cats were found around the time of the missing person report. Thanks, ShepherdShack!

  • New fun fact. The house just went up for sale.

  • Love the listing: “New construction all around” and “Perfect for immediate move-in” lol

  • This whole scenario, not just the premises, fails the smell test!

  • I’m pretty sure I met Mary about 10 years ago. I sold a 1930ish door complete with original frame and hardware that had never been painted, only shellacked, to a woman of her physical description who said she lived over near 6th or 8th and Yale next to a bar or some business that made noise at night. She said her name was Mary and she was very happy to get the nice door for her old house and the strange thing is that the door was in my attic and she walked up the stairs with me and seeming excited to be up there staring at the antique roof framing. So imagining her up in her attic is easy. She made a crack about trying to get this guy she was living with or married to put the door in.
    She was a likable woman with a glint in her eye.