A group of friends renting a house in Palaiseau, about nine miles outside of Paris, discovered the body on Saturday.

A woman with no identification on her body was found at the back of the propety, which abuts a wooded area. The corpse was in a “dug-out area… covered in branches.

Police questioned the renters, although the advanced state of decay likely precludes their involvement. A local prosecutor said that “all the signs suggest that this was a criminal act.”

“The renters called me on Saturday. I was flabbergasted,” the owner of the property told Le Parisien. “They said that they had found the body of a partially decomposed woman of advanced age. They said they were shocked and were leaving the house.”

“It was the first time that I rented my house on the site…” he continued. “I am not disappointed.”