In Münchendorf: Missing 99-Year-Old Woman Found Walled Into House
Police in Lower Austria discovered the body of a missing elderly woman in a wall at the cellar entrance of her house in Münchendorf. The heavily mummified woman was holding a rosary in her hand. Her son is suspected of having continued to claim her pension.
In Münchendorf: Missing 99-Year-Old Woman Found Walled Into House
Lower Austrian police made a shocking discovery in Münchendorf, a few kilometres south of Vienna. During a house search, officers discovered the heavily mummified body of a missing 99-year-old woman in a sealed niche at the entrance to the cellar.
The investigation gained momentum after relatives reported the elderly woman missing at the end of May. Police officers and firefighters forced entry to the house, whose windows were blacked out. Cadaver dogs marked a suspicious spot in the wall. After breaking through the wall, officers found the deceased, who is believed to have died of natural causes. No signs of external violence were visible. She was holding a rosary in her hand.
According to the Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung, the woman may have been lying behind the wall for several years. She was born 99 years ago and would have celebrated her hundredth birthday in a few weeks. Her official place of residence was in Vienna, but she regularly lived in Münchendorf.
The deceased woman's son is the focus of the investigation. Neighbours told the German newspaper Bild that while he lived abroad, he regularly came to the village to mow the lawn or carry out repairs on the house. Investigators suspect he may have continued to collect his mother's pension and told the neighbours she was in a clinic.
The son is currently being interviewed as a witness, although there is suspicion of social security fraud and desecration of the dead. In Austria, social security fraud carries prison sentences of between six months and ten years, depending on the severity of the offence. The exact cause of death and the duration of the walling-in are to be clarified by an autopsy.
One neighbour told the Bild newspaper: "I last saw her six years ago." The deceased was a widow; her husband had died 20 years ago. The mayor of the municipality, which has around 3,000 residents, Doris Kirstorferová, confirmed that the elderly woman had a second home in the locality. Local residents had known the woman well, but hardly knew her son.
Source: Novinky.cz
Source: Novinky.cz