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?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.
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).