Woman Dead In Flat

[tommy.irene]

Woman dead in Bournemouth flat for six years

A bailiff, estate agent and two locksmiths broke into the ground floor flat

A woman has been found dead in her flat in Dorset six years after she died.

The woman, named locally as Anne Leitrim, lived in Tolpuddle Gardens in the Muscliff area of Bournemouth.

A bailiff, estate agent and two locksmiths broke into the ground floor flat on Tuesday and discovered the remains.

Dorset Police said the body was believed to be that of a woman in her seventies but said it was not treating the death as suspicious.

Neighbour John Stanley said: "It's horrifying that, after that amount of time, why hadn't anybody noticed it?

"Because we thought she moved out. She owned a car - the car disappeared - so we automatically thought the lady's moved out and that was it."

[tommy.irene]

1. BBC News - Woman dead in Bournemouth flat for six years

                        A woman in her seventies is found dead in her ground floor flat inBournemouth six years after she died.

[023mjc]

It's so sad that she had no one to miss her.

[bitsnknots]

That's awful.  

[tommy.irene]

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@023mjc wrote:

It's so sad that she had no one to miss her.

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We used to go out and rap the Door and ask people if they seen Mrs x as she didnt come to Age Concern for a while.. 

[bankhaunter]

These days of automatic payment of bills and incomes going straight into bank accounts, it can happen so easily if there is no family to notice.

It is a fact that most people who are found to have died alone at home are reported as missing by their workplace not family or neighbours, take that factor away where people are not working and there you have it.

[lhasa.two]

Very very sad. The neighbours seem to think she left the area but you'd think leaving the windows open would alert someone to check it out but obviously not in this case. Older people living alone need people to check on them more frequently or perhaps get one of those alarm things to wear around the neck or wrist linked up to a company.

Way back in my early 20's living in London sharing rooms in a large house, one of the sharers was a young artist who used to hide himself away for a few days at a time at the top of the house and it was only after noticing there were rather a lot of flies about that I decided to knock on his door, got no reply, tried a couple more times so called the police. Sadly he'd killed himself a few days earlier.

[rose2008-2008]

These stories are very upsetting. Must have been a terribly lonely woman,,,oh dear. There should be more care and attention to lone elderly people who live in the community, to make sure their ok.

[bankhaunter]

Must have been a terribly lonely woman

Not necessarily, they could have had many aquaintances for years with whom they chatted fairly often but not to the degree they would be checked up on should they not be around.

You can know a lot of people none of which will be a close friend.

[tommy.irene]

The milkman was great help for old people.. They would tell people if the milk wasnt taken in..

[bankhaunter]

That sort of daily contact where if a person was going away the other would need to know, has now largely disappeared.

The writer of Brookside had to introduce casual meetings at the letter box in the street as there were few other situations in which the inhabitants would ever talk to each other.

[sir_arthur_strebe-grebling]

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@bankhaunter wrote:

The writer of Brookside had to introduce casual meetings at the letter box in the street as there were few other situations in which the inhabitants would ever talk to each other.

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Scousers.

[tuckerbigdaddy5ngv]

"you'd think leaving the windows open would alert someone"

I dont see any mention of open windows, am i missing something?

[5129frederick]

Unfortunately not all that unusual.  Most people's pensions get paid directly into their bank accounts, and standing orders and direct debits take care of that side of things, so providing there is sufficient money coming into the account, sounding very mercenary, I know, there would be no cause for alarm.  No bank manager is going to wonder why your pensin money is not being withdrawn, because it's none of his business.

I've been in my present property for eight years.  I don't know my neighbours, and my neighbours don't know me.  I don't even know their first names, let alone their surnames.  The most we get from them is the odd cursory grunt if they happen to be getting into their car.

Now be honest with me - hand on heart, can you tell me who lives five doors down the road??   No?  I didn't think so!  We live in a society where one keeps oneself to oneself.  British reserve, call it what you like.  Our front door remains firmly shut.  If I kicked the bucket tomorrow few people would be aware of it.  The older you are, the more indipendent you become.  Once your family have left home, your circle of friends rapidly diminishes.  I worked for the same umbrella for forty-one years.  How many people keep in touch?  ONE - that's right, just one person will phone me up occasionally.  This is even more so if you have no family.

[mustard-tree]

A man was found dead in a flat, in the same block as my friend.

He had been dead about 3 weeks, and we thought that was bad.

[bankhaunter]

Unfortunately not all that unusual.  Most people's pensions get paid directly into their bank accounts, and standing orders and direct debits take care of that side of things, so providing there is sufficient money coming into the account, sounding very mercenary, I know, there would be no cause for alarm.  No bank manager is going to wonder why your pensin money is not being withdrawn, because it's none of his business.

That reminds me of years ago when close to my boat moored in a local boatyard was another boat which had been untouched for so many years it was almost black with dirt.

The mooring fee continued to be paid by DD so the boatyard owner had no reason to question the non use or check on the owner.

[astrologica]

Frederick....I know everyone who lives in my street. I have lived in my present home for eight years too. But where I live now is just a stone's throw away from the house I was born in, 70 years ago. Although that house is sadly gone, many of the families that lived around there then, still live in the area now, so everyone knows each other. These days people tend to move away from their family homes, and consequently don't know their new neighbours. It's very sad that this community spirit is declining. What happened to that poor lady is very unlikely to happen where I live. We look out for one another.
Why is it that you don't know your neighbours? Have you not made the effort to get to know them? They might be nice people!

[5129frederick]

Astro,

I am genuinely, sincerely happy for you.  It's a wonderful thing knowing one another - there must be a real community spirit in your area.  However not all"communities are the same.  I live on a main road - a long main road I hasten to add.  My house number is 213 of about 400+  I'm also "blessed" to live in a Conservative area.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  I have tried.  One of my earlier properties was in Leytonstone, East London, a real London suberb.  After having moved in I looked over the back fence who was relaxing on a recliner.  She glanced up at me.

"Hello,"  I said in a friendly, non-encroaxing manner.  "I'm your new new neighbour."

"Yes,"  she snapped.  "I can see that!"  She then got off her seat, and went inside her house slamming the back door with such force, it damn nearly broke the glass.  They were the ONLY FIVE WORDS SHE SPOKE TO ME IN 5 1/2 YEARS!  Now where do you go from there?  I did absolutely nothing wrong.  I just laughed my head off.  I could understand it if it was Chiselhurst or Surbiton, but not in the heart of the East End.  The only other time I'd heard of her was when she immediately telephoned the council to lodge a formal complaint that I'd secured my trailer to a lampost - outside my own house, to prevent it from being stolen while I was on holiday for a few days.  She was a nonentity.  I'll happily offer the hand of friendship, but if it is not received, that's it.