An 8-year-old boy lived for more than a week with the body of his dead mother before telling a concerned shopkeeper his mom was "in a better place," police said. Gaynell Tipado (41) apparently died January 9 in their apartment in the state of Michigan, and the boy survived in part by eating dried rice, butter and flour.

The family moved to Michigan after surviving Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Foul play was not suspected in Tipado's death, and an autopsy was pending.