Peoria Police this week are investigating a death at a home in the Countrybrook Meadows subdivision.

The call resulted in the discovery of what officials called a home with "severe hoarding issues" that will have officials looking to clean the property to protect public health, officials said.

Police said officers responded to a welfare check in the 8700 block of West Athens Street about 8 a.m. Sept. 23 after neighbors called to say they had seen rats coming out of the home.

Upon arriving, officers found conditions they deemed were unsafe and unsanitary and summoned Peoria Fire-Medical Department units, which had protective gear. Police initially used a drone to enter the house and found conditions consistent with severe hoarding, a number of rodents and what they believed was a deceased person.

Police officers and firefighters entered the home using hazardous materials equipment and self contained breathing gear. Police and officials with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office were able to remove what they said was an "extremely decomposed body," according to police.

Officials said it was the body of a 68-year-old woman at the home, but did not release her name. City records show what police said were multiple EMS calls to the address to help the woman.

Now the city is looking to remdiate the situation at the home. City officials posted the home as "do not occupy," and animal control and the city's Neighborhood and Human Services are working on public health safety issues.

The city has hired a professional contractor specializing in biohazard situations to deal with the home.