Man found in bed five years after death

PlasmaFiend024

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The body of an Austrian man has been found after apparently lying dead in his bed for the past five years.

The man, named as Franz Riedl, is thought to have been in his late 80s when he died.

The corpse went undetected for so long because his rent had been paid by automatic order from the bank account into which he received his pension.


http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=3244609
 
PlasmaFiend024 said:
i mean didnt the guy have relatives or anything?

Apparently not. many don't, i believe. :(

i'd like to think my absence would be noticed . . . :angel:

however, back to the story and from what has been said people thought he had gone to live elsewhere:

"He had been frail and a woman had helped him," the husband of the apartment block's caretaker said, adding that mail had always piled up outside the pensioner's flat.

"We thought he had moved in with her or gone to an old people's home."
 
Thats one of my biggest fears - of being old and dying alone and not even being missed. How sad!
 
Ok...I'm going to be the moron here and as a stupid question. I read this story a couple of times. I'm generally a fairly intelligent person. I can understand that if the rent came out automatically there would be no reason to check on him but what about the woman he had caring for him? Am I to assume that she found him dead one day and never went back? Reported it to authorities and never cared enough to see if his remains were picked up or even to see if funeral services were held? I'm trying to figure out what happened to that woman and why she never made sure someone took care of his remains.
 
PlasmaFiend024 said:
The body of an Austrian man has been found after apparently lying dead in his bed for the past five years.

The man, named as Franz Riedl, is thought to have been in his late 80s when he died.

The corpse went undetected for so long because his rent had been paid by automatic order from the bank account into which he received his pension.

Neighbours said there was no strange smell coming from Riedl's apartment and authorities, who found the body after a court order was given to enter, said his body appeared to have been "mummified" and was well preserved.

"He had been frail and a woman had helped him," the husband of the apartment block's caretaker said, adding that mail had always piled up outside the pensioner's flat.



"We thought he had moved in with her or gone to an old people's home."

Police said they were not certain as to exactly when the man had died, but that they had found only schilling notes in the apartment - the currency used by Austria before the introduction of the euro on Jan. 1, 2002.
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=3244609

There was a similar story a while back involving a woman. I may be wrong but I think it was England.

Maybe they could set up a system where they could make periodic "courtesy" calls to check on the well being of the people who have their rents paid through an automatic system.
 
Sad, but 5 years.....woow.
To think, not one person would stop and give him a christmas or thanksgiving dinner in 5 years.:doh:
 
lymom3 said:
Ok...I'm going to be the moron here and as a stupid question. I read this story a couple of times. I'm generally a fairly intelligent person. I can understand that if the rent came out automatically there would be no reason to check on him but what about the woman he had caring for him? Am I to assume that she found him dead one day and never went back? Reported it to authorities and never cared enough to see if his remains were picked up or even to see if funeral services were held? I'm trying to figure out what happened to that woman and why she never made sure someone took care of his remains.
I was wondering the same thing. I guess that it is a possiblity that she could have died before him.
 
philamena said:
:( :eek: How sad that no one even missed him.

Isn't that just heartbreaking. Sometimes I feel so sad for the elderly especially those living alone. So many times they die and no one even seems to care.

IMO

Ocean
 
jannuncutt said:
I was wondering the same thing. I guess that it is a possiblity that she could have died before him.
My thought exactly Jannuncutt. We had a neighbor who was a recluse, she didn't even like for anybody to talk to her. We'd occassionally see her come and go. The blinds were never opened in her house. She would even change her phone number several times a year so that family members couldn't call. I have an elderly couple who lives next door to me and they hadn't seen her leave for about a week or two, and became concerned. They called the police who did a welfare check and busted down her door to find her decomposing body in her bedroom. She had apparently had a stroke and fell out of the bed, and that's where they found her. What makes it even more sad is that it was during the Christmas/New Years span. Her family found that she had mortgaged her home to the hilt and gave all the money to her church. So makes me wonder where in the hell were the church people (besides taking her money and running?)
 
bakerprune64 said:
My thought exactly Jannuncutt. We had a neighbor who was a recluse, she didn't even like for anybody to talk to her. We'd occassionally see her come and go. The blinds were never opened in her house. She would even change her phone number several times a year so that family members couldn't call. I have an elderly couple who lives next door to me and they hadn't seen her leave for about a week or two, and became concerned. They called the police who did a welfare check and busted down her door to find her decomposing body in her bedroom. She had apparently had a stroke and fell out of the bed, and that's where they found her. What makes it even more sad is that it was during the Christmas/New Years span. Her family found that she had mortgaged her home to the hilt and gave all the money to her church. So makes me wonder where in the hell were the church people (besides taking her money and running?)
Good Lord - that is truly disgusting! Those church members should have been checking on her! There is also another way to look at that. Maybe the church members didn't know....maybe only the leader(s) did. Unfortunately, I've heard, too often, of that happening.
 
My friend who is a Pallative care nurse, found out one of the former nurses who worked with her was terminal.

He did not want ANY relatives to know, he did not want help, he just wanted to be left alone to die.

But she convinced him, that if he did die, no one would know, as he did not "talk to anyone" on purpose.........because he was very sick, and did not want anyone to know he was terminal.

So everyday, one phone call was exchanged, he called her to let her know that he was "fine" and that he "did not need anything" despite her "repeated" requests.

Then one day, he did not phone.......

So she, police and other staff went over to his place and he was dead.

If it was not for her "pleading with him" just to call her once a day, he could have easily been dead for a long time, until someone noticed the smell from his apartment.

This was his choice, he cut everyone out and off from his life........
 
PlasmaFiend024 said:
The body of an Austrian man has been found after apparently lying dead in his bed for the past five years.

The man, named as Franz Riedl, is thought to have been in his late 80s when he died.

The corpse went undetected for so long because his rent had been paid by automatic order from the bank account into which he received his pension.

Neighbours said there was no strange smell coming from Riedl's apartment and authorities, who found the body after a court order was given to enter, said his body appeared to have been "mummified" and was well preserved.

"He had been frail and a woman had helped him," the husband of the apartment block's caretaker said, adding that mail had always piled up outside the pensioner's flat.

"We thought he had moved in with her or gone to an old people's home."

Police said they were not certain as to exactly when the man had died, but that they had found only schilling notes in the apartment - the currency used by Austria before the introduction of the euro on Jan. 1, 2002.
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-storypage.jsp?id=3244609

A very sad and heartbreaking story. Tears are running down my eyes.

In my County, through social services, we have a volunteer group that calls on the elderly everyday, (those that we know of) to make sure they are functioning and alive. It is a shame everywhere does not incorporate a service such as this one. Not that it covers all of them, but those that we know of. I'm proud to be part of that service when I'm able to make calls too.

Too sad to die alone and not be found for five years. The family unit must have been so strained (if he had one).

Gozgals
 
So they thought he moved out 5 years ago but kept taking his money anyhow??
Somehow I don't believe that.

FIVE YEARS!! To me this is criminal.
 
Not sure why everybody is feeling sorry for this guy--After all,he lived until he was in his late eighties---he had a very long life--what about the millions of people that never get anywhere close to that age before dying?
 
Peter Hamilton said:
Not sure why everybody is feeling sorry for this guy--After all,he lived until he was in his late eighties---he had a very long life--what about the millions of people that never get anywhere close to that age before dying?
I don't think that its so much about how long this man lived Peter.
Its more that his corpse lay in that Apt for 5 years and noone noticed.
That is where the feeling sorry for him comes into play. No Family, no Friends, Noone looking out for him at all.
 

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