A five year-old boy and his seven year-old brother lived with their grandmother’s corpse for a week after she suddenly dropped dead. Connie Taylor, 71, adopted her unnamed grandsons, and lived with them at her home in Talty, Texas, until she unexpectedly died at home earlier this month.

Taylor’s grandsons said they were unable to unlock her phone to call for help. They were able to feed, wash and dress themselves for five days, until a teacher at their school raised the alarm over their prolonged absence from class.

Kristen Zastoupil, from Forney Independent School District, said: ‘They knew something was not right. They are used to communicating with this parent. And so when they didn’t get a response, they knew something was off.’

Taylor is believed to have died of natural causes, with an autopsy now set to determine her exact cause of death. Her grandsons are now in foster care, although another of Taylor’s biological children is applying for custody of them.

Police say the boys are doing well, considering the trauma of the ordeal they experienced. A family friend said Taylor had acted as a loving mother to her grandsons, who she had formally adopted from foster care just a month prior to her death.

Further information on the boys’ biological parents has not been released, NBCDFW reported.

Zastoupil said the tragedy highlighted how important teachers can be for their students’ welfare, even outside school. She explained: ‘They are always heroes in our eyes, but even more so… to have to share with them the outcome Friday was very heartbreaking and it was a really tough weekend.

‘They are thinking about their students, and that’s the first thought.’

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