Boy found dead next to mom's body

OMAHA, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A Nebraska toddler whose body was found next to his mother's may have outlived her by hours or days, investigators said.

Omaha police broke into Janelle Browning's apartment Monday and found her body and that of her 21-month-old son, Ezekiel Berry. Browning's body was on the couch, and the television was on.

Investigators found low-level cupboards open and ransacked as if Ezekiel, hungry and thirsty, had tried to find food, The Omaha World-Herald reported. Dr. Laura Jana, an Omaha pediatrician, said the boy was too young to have been able to take care of himself and would have died in less than three days without water.

Because the bodies had decomposed, the cause of death may remain undetermined. Police found no signs of foul play.

Mike Browning, Janelle Browning's brother, said his sister had successfully turned her life around after a period of drug addiction. She had been working part time in a daycare center.