Daughter charged after mother’s body found in Chicago freezer

CHICAGO — A Chicago woman has been charged with keeping her mother’s corpse in a freezer for nearly two years while living in a nearby apartment.

Eva Bratcher, 69, appeared in court on Thursday for concealing the death of her 96-year-old mother and possessing a fraudulent identity card.

Regina Michalski’s body was discovered this week in a freezer in the garage near the apartment they had shared, police said. Investigators believe she died in March 2021. The cause will not be determined until the body is thawed.

The allegations are “very disturbing,” Judge David Kelly said as he posted $20,000 bond for Bratcher.

Kelly refused a defense attorney’s request for a lower bond to get Bratcher out of jail.

She has a previous conviction for forgery, and investigators said they are trying to determine if Bratcher was collecting Social Security benefits from her late mother, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Bratcher’s daughter, who lives in Kentucky, asked police to check the house after losing contact with her grandmother.

“What could go wrong? Apparently everything,” Sabrina Watson said.