OAKLAND, Calif. -- The remains of an elderly woman who went missing nearly seven years ago may have been found among the piles of debris littering her Oakland home, authorities said

Investigators were called to a home in the 700 block of 47th Street at about 8 p.m. Wednesday. The family was cleaning out the piles of debris that littered the house so that it could be sold.

But then they made a grisly discovery – human bones under a pile of junk in an upstairs bedroom, authorities said.

Eunice Workman was 76 at the time of her disappearance and had been living in the house for about a decade. A search was undertaken at the time, but she was never located.

Her neighbor, Virginia Taylor, took part in that search.

“Mrs. Workman was a very decent woman,” said Taylor, an Oakland teacher who used to take walks with the woman. “She was a mentor… She helped a lot of people in the community.”

Police said the home was filled from floor to ceiling with hoarded belongings and preliminary reports indicate the victim may have died by being crushed or trapped by collected piles of junk, and was simply never found.

The remains have not yet been officially identified, an Alameda County coroner said. But police say first evidence points toward the remains being the missing woman.