• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Dying Alone & Loners' Unnoticed Deaths

So sad.

Postmortem exams are due to be carried out on the bodies of two elderly deaf brothers found at a house in Dublin on Tuesday.

The two men had been sharing the home in Millrose Estate, Bluebell, west Dublin.

One of the men is believed to have lived at the house with the body of his brother for several weeks before he himself died last weekend.

The alarm was raised yesterday when neighbours became concerned that they had not seen either brother since the end of last week.

The men, who were in their 70s, have been named locally as Daniel andWilliam McCarthy.

Gardaí, who described the discovery as “tragic”, believe one of the men died of natural causes “at least a number of weeks ago”. His brother continued to live at the property without moving the body.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crim...-deaf-brothers-found-in-dublin-home-1.2816760
 
So sad.

Postmortem exams are due to be carried out on the bodies of two elderly deaf brothers found at a house in Dublin on Tuesday.

The two men had been sharing the home in Millrose Estate, Bluebell, west Dublin.

One of the men is believed to have lived at the house with the body of his brother for several weeks before he himself died last weekend.

The alarm was raised yesterday when neighbours became concerned that they had not seen either brother since the end of last week.

The men, who were in their 70s, have been named locally as Daniel andWilliam McCarthy.

Gardaí, who described the discovery as “tragic”, believe one of the men died of natural causes “at least a number of weeks ago”. His brother continued to live at the property without moving the body.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crim...-deaf-brothers-found-in-dublin-home-1.2816760

The Irish Deaf Society said that, if given official status, Irish Sign Language would have to be used in State services and deaf people would be less at risk of isolation.

Eddie Redmond, the society’s chief executive, said: “The deaf community face huge barriers in accessing services due to the lack of services available through Irish Sign Language.

“Services such as social workers, home help, the HSE etc need to be more aware of the needs of deaf people and the importance of communication and provision of information through ISL.”

Mr Redmond was speaking following the discovery of the bodies of semi-reclusive brothers, Daniel and William McCarthy, at their home in Dublin on Tuesday.

Originally from Kerry, the brothers, in their 70s, were deaf with limited verbal communication, and lived together in a terraced home at the Millrose Estate in Bluebell, Dublin for many years.

Daniel is understood to have run the household and became carer for William in recent years. It is believed that he passed away several weeks ago and William was unable — or felt unable — to seek help.

Their remains were found by gardaí after a neighbour noticed Daniel’s car had not moved for some time and there had been no sign of either brother outside the house. Their deaths are expected to be referred to the coroner’s court for an inquest but foul play has been ruled out.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irelan...urce=androidapp&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign
 
Postmortem exams are due to be carried out on the bodies of two elderly deaf brothers found at a house in Dublin on Tuesday

Reminds me of two elderly sisters who lived nearby when I was growing up. One of them died in an armchair and the other one was trying to pull her up when the corpse fell on top of her. She was trapped like that for a couple of days.
 
Another sad case. Might be murder.

The body of a woman who is believed to have been murdered may have lain undiscovered for more than two years, police have said.

Marie Conlon, 68, was discovered dead in bed in a flat at Larkspur Rise in west Belfast last Friday.

A 23-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday and remains in custody.

Detectives have established that the last known sighting of Ms Conlon was in January 2015.

"It is our belief, supported by the medical evidence, that her death may have occurred at around this time," said Ch Insp Alan Dickson.

"We have launched a murder investigation and a 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including murder.

"He was detained in the west Belfast area yesterday and remains in custody."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-41588452
 
Yet another sad case.

A man lay dead in a tent for up to a year before being found, police have revealed.

The body was discovered alongside the A370 near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on 15 August last year.

PC Andy Henderson said: "This is a really sad case of a man who appears to have been sleeping rough and whose death seems to have gone unreported."

Documents were found with the man, and after a police appeal his next-of-kin have now been contacted.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-45140711
 
Yet another sad case.

A man lay dead in a tent for up to a year before being found, police have revealed.

The body was discovered alongside the A370 near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on 15 August last year.

PC Andy Henderson said: "This is a really sad case of a man who appears to have been sleeping rough and whose death seems to have gone unreported."

Documents were found with the man, and after a police appeal his next-of-kin have now been contacted.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-45140711
Very sad ..

I used to be friends with a disabled guy who lived in the basement flat where me and my mate were also renting a place. He was an ex social worker, a heavy drinker at this stage but a kind and gentle man who was writing his own Terry Pratchet type novels. I used to knock on his door and we'd share a spliff and stories, watch some DVD's and just chat in general.

I spent one Christmas knocking on his door with some mince pies and sherry (you'll guess by now that he was dead) with no reply so I assumed he'd gone to visit his Dad in America which he sometimes did do.

There used to be a bar at the top of our building. I was in there one afternoon when a woman I'd never met before asked me about the police carrying a body bag out the day before. The realisation struck me that this was probably Paul (there was only four of us living in the whole huge building at that time) and sure enough it was which was how I met his Sister for the first time. It turned out she'd become worried, the police had looked through an outside window and spotted Paul's legs lying in the hallway by his front door so they'd kicked the door in but he'd been dead for over two months at this point.

She invited me to his funeral, it was going to be a humanist funeral and they would be playing Sea Sick Steve. She told me Paul didn't have any friends really and she wanted his Dad to think he did. I asked my flatmate to come along and pretend and he agreed, we were asked to wear something colourful so we bought some loud Hawaiian shirts and my flatmate rehearsed a poem to read at the funeral.

On the day, we got off the train at Norwich and met up with one of Paul's old friends who looked exactly like Allan Moore. We broke the taxi rank rules and chose a taxi that had prints of flowers all over it so we could all turn up at the crematorium that way. Me and **** introduced ourselves to Paul's rich looking family and told them what a great bloke Paul was. During the service, **** read the poem which set his Dad off.

After this, we went to an ancient looking hotel in the centre of Norwich, **** decided to take advantage of the free bar when no one was watching, I told **** off, we were both politely asked to leave ("Jesus Christ ****!! .. you take advantage of a free bar at a wedding, not a fucking wake man!" I whispered at him). I apologised to his Sister who said "That's OK, Paul would have loved it !" .. she was laughing.

I helped the family clear out his flat the next day, I apologised for my flatmate's behaviour bullshitting the best I could that it was just his nerves and provided loads of cups of tea, they kept trying to give me Paul's leather jackets but the thought of his body lying underneath them for over two months made me tell them I thought it would bring Paul more happiness if I spread them evenly between the local charity shops. I did accept a large tent though which is still in my loft. I've never looked at it. For all I know the bag could be full of money or his lost writings ? ..
 
Last edited:
I did accept a large tent though which is still in my loft. I've never looked at it. For all I know the bag could be full of money or his lost writings ? ..
Look up there now. You might find something good. Or a porn stash.
 
Look up there now. You might find something good. Or a porn stash.
It's a big old canvas tent as his Sister told me .. he used to love camping and was very handsome according to her when he was younger so took a few different girlfriends camping in it in his days. I'll open it up one day and see how difficult it is to put up compared to today's tents ..
 
It's a big old canvas tent as his Sister told me .. he used to love camping and was very handsome according to her when he was younger so took a few different girlfriends camping in it in his days. I'll open it up one day and see how difficult it is to put up compared to today's tents ..
Yeah, those old tents were hard work.
I put one up (with my family) in a howling gale on a Welsh hillside. We had to fight to stop it taking off.
 
Yeah, those old tents were hard work.
I put one up (with my family) in a howling gale on a Welsh hillside. We had to fight to stop it taking off.

That reminds me of a horror short story: The Camping *****, can't remember the family name. It was in one of the Best New Horror anthologies edited by Stephen Jones.
 
Yeah, those old tents were hard work.
I put one up (with my family) in a howling gale on a Welsh hillside. We had to fight to stop it taking off.
So did i, with my family, on top of a cliff, pitch dark, middle of a very high wind, quite a few of the other campers came out to give us a hand, we were at Summerhill camp site, Pembrokeshire
 
When I saw the asterisks there I automatically tried to fit in a 4-letter obscenity in the plural. It'd probably be alliterative too so that's... oh my!

Then I read the rest of the sentence. Durr.

I as well Escargot...pre-programmed assumptions always make for interesting times.
 
So did i, with my family, on top of a cliff, pitch dark, middle of a very high wind, quite a few of the other campers came out to give us a hand, we were at Summerhill camp site, Pembrokeshire

So did I, but not atop a cliff. I have an amusing photo of the asymmetrical 'thing' we ended up with somewhere. The fact that the field the farmer had chosen for a campsite didn't have any level bits didn't help.

In the morning a slightly pompous man whose manner I recognised later in the League of Gentlemen's toad-breeding uncle character emerged from a caravan.

"We saw you having a bit of trouble with your tent last night", he smarmed. "I was going to give you a helping hand or put the headlights on so you could see better But my wife said no. No, no, no, no, no she said... they wouldn't want you to interfere."

And off he walked with his sponge bag and bog roll, smiling contentedly and whistling tunelessly, the bastard.

[Edited for typo].
 
Last edited:
A bit odd, given his work as a defence contractor you'd think someone would have noticed his abscence.

A US Navy veteran whose body was found inside his apartment in Dallas, Texas, is believed to have lain dead there for three years.

Ronald Wayne White's family said they had reported his absence to the authorities on numerous occasions. His body was discovered during an investigation of apartment units whose tenants had not been using water in the DeSoto area complex. Staff who broke down the bolted front door found him on the kitchen floor.

Mr White, who would have been 51 in 2016, had worked as a defence contractor since leaving the US Navy. He lived alone after he and his wife divorced, and frequently travelled outside the US on business. His mother, Doris Stevens, who lives in Long Island in New York, said her son had regularly contacted her - but his calls ceased three years ago.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50531411
 
Sounds like his family noticed something was wrong.

This is what wellness checks are for. Police departments are supposed to make them. In case, you know, people are moldering inside their homes or something.
 
Sounds like his family noticed something was wrong.

This is what wellness checks are for. Police departments are supposed to make them. In case, you know, people are moldering inside their homes or something.

I could be wrong, but I don't think we have police who do "wellness checks" in the USA, even if you phone them to do it. Maybe this varies from state to state.
 
I could be wrong, but I don't think we have police who do "wellness checks" in the USA, even if you phone them to do it. Maybe this varies from state to state.

Given the nature of his job he would have had some level of security clearance, I 'm surprised that his employers or some Federal Agency didn't investigate his disappearance.
 
Given the nature of his job he would have had some level of security clearance, I 'm surprised that his employers or some Federal Agency didn't investigate his disappearance.

You're most likely correct. So, then in this case, some Federal Agency probably should have done a wellness check (or something similar).
 
Yet over three years no one noticed a strange smell ?
 
I could be wrong, but I don't think we have police who do "wellness checks" in the USA, even if you phone them to do it. Maybe this varies from state to state.
Really? Here in the frozen (or, in my case, rainy) wasteland north of you, there are gov't departments you can call if you feel someone may be in danger (to others or to themselves). I had to call in myself, actually, not too long ago regarding an elderly gentleman (not someone I know personally) who had recently been a victim credit card fraud -- being taken to some bogus Mafia-run "afterhours club" in the basement of a house, where one had to pay for drinks by credit card! -- and from what I heard had been negligent for months in attending to the financial in-and-outflows related to the multiple properties he owns. Alas, I did not know his surname nor his personal address, but only a given name and the address of one of his properties. It wasn't clear if that would be enough for them to go on, but if it was, then I was told the police would go and check in on him to assess the situation.

A few months after I reported him, I received the news that he had flown to Hamburg (from far across the pond!) for a little holiday, and was promptly hospitalized upon arrival when it became clear that he was disoriented, suffering from Alzheimer's, and not safe to have wandering the streets alone. A nurse was finally sent from here to escort him back by plane, and upon arrival he was hospitalized once again, and his (estranged) sister was given power of attorney over his affairs. This is a man in his late 70s who travelled everywhere by bike, competed in marathons even at his advanced age, and who appeared to be in robust good health. (He did, however, live alone in a small, slovenly basement suite in one of his houses; so much for wealth equalling "the good life"! His properties together are worth at least $15,000,000...)
 
Last edited:
Really? Here in the frozen (or, in my case, rainy) wasteland north of you, there are gov't departments you can call if you feel someone may be in danger (to others or to themselves). I had to call in myself, actually, not too long ago regarding an elderly gentleman (not someone I know personally) who had recently been a victim credit card fraud -- being taken to some bogus Mafia-run "afterhours club" in the basement of a house, where one had to pay for drinks by credit card! -- and from what I heard had been negligent for months in attending to the financial in-and-outflows related to the multiple properties he owns. Alas, I did not know his surname nor his personal address, but only a given name and the address of one of his properties. It wasn't clear if that would be enough for them to go on, but if it was, then I was told the police would go and check in on him to assess the situation.

A few months after I reported him, I received the news that he had flown to Hamburg (from far across the pond!) for a little holiday, and was promptly hospitalized upon arrival when it became clear that he was disoriented, suffering from Alzheimer's, and not safe to have wandering the streets alone. A nurse was finally sent from here to escort him back by plane, and upon arrival he was hospitalized once again, and his (estranged) sister was given power of attorney over his affairs. This is a man in his late 70s who travelled everywhere by bike, competed in marathons even at his advanced age, and who appeared to be in robust good health. (He did, however, live alone in a small, slovenly basement suite in one of his houses; so much for wealth equalling "the good life"! His properties together are worth at least $15,000,000...)

Well, as I mentioned, I think it probably depends on what state a person lives in the USA. My own current situation is that I currently live in a bad neighborhood in the state of New Jersey. I myself have never heard of any wellness check where I live. The only thing that could happen is if someone was concerned for some other reason, like if someone was concerned a missing person was the victim of robbery: then maybe the police would go check on that situation. My experience is that the USA is not a nice, friendly place to live: It's every person for himself. That having been said, it might vary by state. Maybe some other states conduct wellness checks.
 
Back
Top