They called her 'Mommy': Vulnerable senior dies after 2 strangers take over her life

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Two men moved into an elderly Toronto woman's home and began claiming to be like her sons. She quickly gave them powers of attorney and signed a will, leaving them everything. Then she died.

Dorelia Licorish didn't know where she was. Her confusion came after she was asked a simple question by a Toronto judge presiding over a video court hearing last May.

Licorish, an 86-year-old Toronto resident who was in the South American country at the time, turned to the two men with her.

A provincial agency had gone to court to get legal guardianship over Licorish, arguing she was mentally incapable and the men were taking advantage of her financially.

Back in Canada, members of her family had been searching for Licorish. They called police after they hadn't been able to reach her for weeks and her house looked abandoned.

Less than six months after that call, Licorish died in hospital from an infected bedsore so deep her pelvic bone was exposed. The two men with her in Guyana are living in her Toronto home. Police have laid no charges.

Licorish’s nieces, Susanne Perch, left, and Andrea Phillips-Beckles, right, are seeking answers from police about what happened to their aunt. (Krista Hessey/CBC)

An investigation by CBC's the fifth estate into Licorish's death reveals that even when government agencies and law enforcement are alerted to a case of suspected elder abuse, they can fail to protect the most vulnerable seniors.

Licorish's family believe she was neglected by the men who had moved in as tenants before declaring themselves her caregivers.

"I would like to get justice for her because [the police] didn't take anything seriously at all," said Andrea Phillips-Beckles, Licorish's niece.

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