Living With Corpses

[MA-Caver]

90-Year-Old Woman Lived With Dead Bodies Of Her Siblings For Up To 30 Years

Monday November 10, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff
She's a 90-year-old woman and she lived with a disturbing secret for as long as three decades.
It was finally uncovered in a Chicago suburb on Friday when authorities revealed that Margaret Bernstorff hadn't been entirely alone in her home in Evanston, Illinois (top left) all this time - she had apparently been living with the dead bodies of three siblings, possibly for as long as 30 years.
A care worker alerted authorities to the surprising find and they entered the cluttered and messy Victorian-era house and confirmed the discovery just before the weekend.
The remains, some hidden under blankets, were located in several different parts of the residence, and included a sister who died sometime in the late 1970s, a brother who passed away at age 83 in 2003 and another sister who was 98 when she died in May.

So is this a case of the family that dies together stays together? Sheesh. the woman managed to put up with the stench and decay of her siblings is one thing but to be among that for 30 years?
I would imagine that if her house is far enough apart from neighboring houses that the smell wouldn't have permeated the neighborhood unless someone walked up to the house itself. Either that or the rooms where the bodies were were sealed up very tightly (great weatherproofing). Of course after a time the smell goes away but still... (trying to wrap my mind around this... and don't want to).

 

[BrandonLucas]

I guess the question is was she not aware that they were in the house?

Or is this article saying that she tried to hide the bodies from others finding out?

It appears that it's implying that she never knew they were there. And, just like you were just saying, how on earth could anyone not be aware of the smell? How big is the house? And why weren't these people reported missing?

Just seems like a story with many holes to me.

 

[MA-Caver]

I guess the question is was she not aware that they were in the house?

Or is this article saying that she tried to hide the bodies from others finding out?

It appears that it's implying that she never knew they were there. And, just like you were just saying, how on earth could anyone not be aware of the smell? How big is the house? And why weren't these people reported missing?

Just seems like a story with many holes to me.

The article stated that folks assumed that the family member died or moved away so that's why they weren't reported missing.

She probably knew they were there, you cannot absolutely deny the odor of a human body rotting. I'm guessing she was mentally unstable and deeply DEEPLY attached to her siblings that she couldn't stand the thought of burying them... thing is... the other sibs were alive ... they didn't all die at once so they all were knowing one or the other had passed.
Very creepy Addams like family indeed.

 

[foggymorning162]

I wonder was she collecting social security checks or something else in their names? Did they all live in the house?

 

[Cryozombie]

This story was in the Chicago Trib, along with pics and the house is moderately sized, and pretty much sits in a neighborhood by other homes. Nothing sprawling and Stench escaping, to be sure.

 

[IcemanSK]

This is pretty amazing!