Sister-in-law Committed Suicide In Charlotte, North Carolina, And Has A Likely Insolvent Estate

My sister committed suicide on 11/20/2024. The medical examiner/sheriff's dept of Mecklenburg county only contacted us last Thursday after contacting her ex-husband who wanted nothing to do with her remains or estate. She was living at an apartment in Charlotte, left no will that we are aware of, has little to no assets, and she is estranged from her 19 year old daughter who lives in Illinois. We are in Arizona. We understand someone needs to file for "application of administration" but with likely no assets, likely significant debt, and estrangement from her closest next-of-kin we are struggling to understand what to do to at least get access to her apartment to locate only items of sentimental value, especially with all the time that was allowed to pass before we were notified.

What we have done thus far:
We have at least worked with our niece/sister's estranged daughter to authorize my sister's remains be released to a mortuary and cremated for us to have a funeral and have paid for that out of our pocket already and have the death certificates sent to us.
We have scheduled a consultation with a probate attorney in Charlotte to discuss what are the possibilities (but earliest consultation is on 12/17/2024
We have reached out to Legal Services of Mecklenburg County, NC for potential pro-bono but it looks like they only work with elderly law
We have spoken to her apartment complex and at least made them aware that my sister had living relatives
We have the police report but with no details and no evidence obtained during their investigation.

Basically we are asking are there other resources we can reach out to to resolve my sister's estate and at least retrieve personal items of sentimental value without spending an obscene amount of money to administer an estate that has no real assets?