Neighbor sounded the alarm

Dead man lay in house for weeks

Because the mailbox was overflowing, officers entered the house and made the sad discovery(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Tragic: For around 14 days, nobody noticed that a pensioner and father of three had died alone in St. Martin im Mühlkreis (Upper Austria). A concerned neighbor finally raised the alarm and police officers found the body of the 69-year-old.

Mail had been piling up in the letterbox of the rather "hidden" detached house in St. Martin im Mühlkreis for two weeks - so long that the letter carrier was worried about the pensioner, who lived alone. A neighbor, who had noticed that the blinds were always closed, finally raised the alarm. When the police officers entered the house, it quickly became clear why no one had come to collect the post: the 69-year-old had passed away some time ago.

The house was so overgrown and overgrown that its occupant (69) had lived in seclusion. He had probably only had sporadic contact with his family and had rarely been seen in the neighborhood.(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

No external fault
"The resident died of natural causes around two weeks before he was found," the police said. A "harmless" death through no fault of his own.

"I didn't know him very well, he was very withdrawn and lived alone," regrets Mayor Manfred Lanzersdorfer. 

As far as I know, he lived here for several decades. After his three children moved out and his marriage broke up, he lived alone in the detached house.

Bürgermeister Manfred Lanzersdorfer

If the family hadn't been particularly active in village life before, the father then withdrew even more. Although one son had built a house in the village, contact was probably rather sporadic.

Not uncommon
Unfortunately, such cases are not uncommon: eight weeks ago, the "Krone" reported on a woman in her mid-forties who had been lying dead in bed in her Linz apartment for weeks without being noticed.

According to Statistics Austria, 230 people die in Austria every day, many of them alone. This is because almost a third of over-65s and 44.5 percent of over-80s live alone. And living alone also means that the risk of dying earlier is 32 percent higher than if you have a lot of social contacts.

„Krone“-Kommentar

Nicht immer gibt es „Schuldige“

An "unobjectionable" death, but one that nevertheless gives pause for thought. You might ask yourself why no one, neither family nor neighbors, would have looked after the lonely man. But it's not that simple: some people feel most comfortable alone, others can't stand company due to mental illness.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel / Krone Kreativ)

Some families have deep rifts that make reconciliation or even regular contact seem impossible. But even in harmonious and happy families, it is not always easy to stay in constant contact with every member.

What can help: Sending each other at least one "emoji", a smiley face, in the morning to let each other know that the other person is healthy and well.