Australia - Natalie Wood: The woman Sydney forgot

February 5, 2014

No one noticed as the neatly dressed woman from 139 Kippax Street lay dead in her home for eight years. But there is much interest in Natalie Wood's estate as her inquest begins

Her bones fit neatly inside a drawer and two jars marked ''HANDS'' and ''FEET'' that police packed and placed on the dusty bed frame. So small were the remains that the first officer who looked in the bedroom did not see her at all. ''There's nothing in here,'' he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/natalie-wood-the-woman-sydney-forgot-20140204-31ywh.html#ixzz2sVFyryqp

It's a sad case that she died that way; it's a disgusting case that people who couldn't be bothered to make a 40 cent phone call over those 8 years are now crawling out of the woodwork to stake a claim on the inheritance.

Photo of Natalie from above link...



http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/natalie-wood-the-woman-sydney-forgot-20140204-31ywh.html

http://www.news.com.au/national/cor...atalie-jean-wood/story-fncynjr2-1226819556816

Coronial inquest hears testimony about the lonely life of 'the woman Sydney forgot', Natalie Jean Wood

SHE lay dead on the floor of her inner city apartment for more than eight years and now a coronial inquest has heard details of the lonely life of "the woman Sydney forgot".

The skeleton of Natalie Jean Wood was found on the floor of her apartment by police in July 2011. Her sister-in-law, Enid May Davis, provided details of Mrs Wood's day-to-day life in Kippax St in inner-city Surry Hills prior to her death.

http://www.news.com.au/national/cor...atalie-jean-wood/story-fncynjr2-1226819556816

Updated:

But today a neighbour told the NSW State Coroner's court he spotted a mystery woman in the home of Mrs Wood four years before police found her skeletal remains.

Ashley Russell Blower, who moved into a nearby home in 2005, said he spotted a woman through the window of Mrs Wood's house in winter 2007.

Mr Blower said he did not know the identity of the woman he saw through the window and had never seen them before.

There is an 60 year old woman in my mums nursing home, when she was 25 she was involved in an accident which left her badly mentally and physically injured. She was awarded a large payout, she has one sister who is sole beneficiary to her will and not one nurse or carer has every seen that sister, so this poor woman in this nursing home never gets any visitors. So many lonely forgotten people.

A few Tweets from the Inquest today;

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

She was left dead in her Surry Hills apartment for nearly 8 years. Her family is sparring over the rights to her estate @newscomauHQ

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Her family will be most interested to know what the Coroner says her date of death is, as it may determine who has the rights to her estate

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

When policeman Andrew Wells entered Wood's house, there was a massively overgrown tree. Leaves on the ground showed changes of many seasons

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Wells said there was a layer of dust covering everything, drawers open and material beneath her skeletal remains #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Mrs Wood was admitted to gospital over a brain tumour Nov 12 2003. Rejected an offer of respite care in December #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Natalie Wood did not attend an appointment with a doctor in February 2004

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Andrew Wells is not aware whether Mrs Wood had ANY electrical items like a fridge, I understand #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Last claimed sighting of Natalie Wood was by Enid Davis, her sister in law, from a bus on January 30 2004, inquest hears #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Davis is one of the parties who have staked a claim on Mrs Wood's estate

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Last transaction I understand Mrs Wood made was withdrawing $400 using a CommBank passbook on 18 Dec 2003 #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Why did Mrs Wood stop visiting her family? "My knowledge is Mrs Wood was a bit of a recluse and kept to herself": Wells

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Neighbours of #womansydneyforgot believed she may have moved to the country with Enid and Vane Davis, Wells said @newscomauhq

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Wood filled a prescription for hypertension 30 Dec 2003. If she missed no meds, she wouldve stopped taking them 10 Jan 2004, Wells said

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 5h

Counsel for Davis points out she would have taken 26 tablets, meaning she stopped later that month. Wells agrees #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Enid Davis stopped paying Natalie's bills in 2004. Said Wood did not redirect her mail to her, as required each 12 months #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Davis last saw Natalie Wood on 3 Jan 2003. The first time she had seen her sonce before Christmas in 2002 #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Wood usually spent Christmas with Davis. Did not in 2002. Davis said her husband had made alternative plans #womansydneyforgot @newscomauhq

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Davis didnt visit hospital to see Wood after she was admitted. Was informed of her presence by doctors at the hospital #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Davis said she last sighted Natalie Wood from the bus window 30 Jan 2004 from the bus window on Belmore Rd, Randwick #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Did you try and make contact, counsel asks? "I had no time. My husband was 247 care" #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Mrs Davis said she has not spoken to Natalie since Jan 2003. "There was no reason... except my husband had dementia and was getting v sick"

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Mrs Davis recognised her by her clothing, saw her for the first time in nearly 12 months #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

@t_lander the result of the inquest may determine whether Davis gets part of the estate

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

#womanwhosydneyforgot inquest has adjourned until this 12:30AEDT. Ill have a story together on @newscomauHQ in the hour

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Davis said #womansydneyforgot did not have a fridge after one rusted to pieces. Didnt want one. Natalie Wood had no phone, either

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

How did she fill her days? Asks coroner. "She liked walking around town", would go to shops, around the Sydney foreshore #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 4h

Her only hobby was watching TV, Davis says. She did not have a TV in Surry Hills home, said Davis #womansydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 3h

Back at #womaninsydney inquest. New witness, a neighbour since 2005, was told when he moved in that Mrs Wood had left for the country

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 3h

He asumed other neighbours, Ken and Lorraine, had been told by the Davis family #womensydneyforgot

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 3h

Lorraine said after #womansydneyforgot was found that she had been told by Mrs Wood's brother that Natalie moved to the country. Curious

Daniel Piotrowski ‏@drpiotrowski 2h

Mystery woman spotted in the home of Natalie Jean Wood four years before her body was found: http://bit.ly/1itk0D3 #womansydneyforgot

Absolutely disgusting. None of them should get a cent.

We're going through a similar thing with my other half's family at the moment. Out of over 20 family members, he was the only one who showed up to the funeral, and the only one that ever made an effort with his deceased relative - so of course he was left with the estate. Now the family are all bickering over who should get what, and they're trying to contest the will. Absolutely horrible, stuff like this definitely shows peoples true colors.

Why should you get anything if you didn't care about the person while they were here?

Rest in peace, Natalie. I'm sorry you lead such a lonely life. I hope you have found happiness now, wherever you are.

http://www.news.com.au/national/cor...atalie-jean-wood/story-fncynjr2-1226819556816

Coroner Michael Barnes ruled today that Natalie Jean Wood - who police found dead on her bedroom floor in July 2011 - died on an unknown date in February 2004.

This is so sad. And what gets me is they must have known she had a brain tumor...and still no visit when they hadn't heard from her or even a call for a welfare check

I'm thinking the neighbour did see someone in Natalie's house after her death because the sister in law said Natalie's only hobby was to watch TV yet there was no TV in the house and this TV may have been stolen. Her purse was also missing. The mattress was gone as was sheeting etc. No will. Could it have been the sister in law in there?
I don't think a neighbour would make something up like that as he'd have nothing to gain. The house was almost empty and her walking stick placed straight on her wire bed base, if she had a stroke the bed would be intact with the walking stick on that or on the floor. It's not adding up even if the Coroner dismissed the sighting of a woman in the house.

That's a sad story but the home must be in some upscale area to be worth $800,000. That rat trap wouldn't be worth $80,000 around here.

STANDREID said:

That's a sad story but the home must be in some upscale area to be worth $800,000. That rat trap wouldn't be worth $80,000 around here.

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It is. Surry Hills.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surry_Hills,_New_South_Wales

I remember that within a year of discovering Natalie's body, authorities found a different case in Surry Hills where a resident had died in an apartment block many years ago. I'll need to do more googling to dig that up but I found this article:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2790120.html

"With mail permanently redirected to her sister-in-law, Ms Wood's neighbours thought she had either gone to live with her brother or moved to Queensland, as she had long promised."

I wonder why it was redirected while she was still living there.

As I used to say, "When there's a will, there's a family". Teehee

Sadly in this case, there was neither.

Why can't they just be nice and share the inheritance? Save themselves some fat lawyer's bills and a load of grief at the same time. It would also be nicer for Natalie's memory if there was no fighting.

Apart from where the ceiling came down, the house looked tidy, with things in a certain place. So all those drawers left open in the bedroom look funny to me, unless police did that. I just get the impression Natalie was the kind of person to open a drawer, take something out and then close it again.

Oh well, that's answered that question. Just found this new update where police say they think someone might have opened the drawers directly above her body.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-woman...-someone-was-in-the-house-20140206-322y3.html

I thoughtit was odd. Open drawers like that irritate me so much I wanted to jump in and shut those ones in the photograph.

Is it a crime in Australia not to report a dead body if you find one?

they'll get you said:

There is an 60 year old woman in my mums nursing home, when she was 25 she was involved in an accident which left her badly mentally and physically injured. She was awarded a large payout, she has one sister who is sole beneficiary to her will and not one nurse or carer has every seen that sister, so this poor woman in this nursing home never gets any visitors. So many lonely forgotten people.

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This is such a wonderful heartfelt statement. Clicking thanks was just not enough! But there is also a flip side to this. I started working in a nursing home to get my feet in the door, to start taking care of the elderly. After three months, I injured my back, lifting a 300 pound patient. The girl working with me was pregnant, and I refused to let her help lift. I ruptured a disc in my back and eventually had to have surgery. The nursing home decided to fight my injury claim, and tried to have me banned from visiting my patients, while on leave. I sought the help of an attorney, and he escorted me to the nursing home and hand delivered a letter to the lady in charge. The letter stated that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, were they allowed to deny me access to visit the people I had come to care about. If it happened, there would be a major lawsuit. Needless to say, I was allowed unlimited visitation. The elderly gave us our yesterdays. The least we can do, is give them our tomorrows. Sorry for the O/T, but God bless this lady who died alone.

How sad this case is. It reminds me a bit of this one:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/oct/09/joyce-vincent-death-mystery-documentary?CMP=twt_gu

On 25 January 2006, officials from a north London housing association repossessing a bedsit in Wood Green owing to rent arrears made a grim discovery. Lying on the sofa was the skeleton of a 38-year-old woman who had been dead for almost three years. In a corner of the room the television set was still on, tuned to BBC1, and a small pile of unopened Christmas presents lay on the floor. Washing up was heaped in the kitchen sink and a mountain of post lay behind the front door. Food in the refrigerator was marked with 2003 expiry dates. The dead woman's body was so badly decomposed it could only be identified by comparing dental records with an old holiday photograph of her smiling. Her name was revealed to be Joyce Carol Vincent.

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TK8895 said:

I remember that within a year of discovering Natalie's body, authorities found a different case in Surry Hills where a resident had died in an apartment block many years ago. I'll need to do more googling to dig that up but I found this article:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2790120.html

"With mail permanently redirected to her sister-in-law, Ms Wood's neighbours thought she had either gone to live with her brother or moved to Queensland, as she had long promised."

I wonder why it was redirected while she was still living there.

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Why would she have her mail redirected to people she was no longer talking to? Also I read that her bills were being redirected....So who paid the bills?

JMOO