A
strange and almost unbelievable story from Lehigh Acres, Florida.
A 63-year-old woman and her
42-year-old son from Germany maintained a vacation home in Florida. Three
years ago, in early 1999, they told U.S. friends that they were moving
back to Germany. On the other hand, friends and family in Germany thought
that they were staying in the U.S. Neither group ever heard from the two
again, each figuring that they were now in the other country.
Finally, in November 2002,
a U.S. friend learned that their Florida house was to be sold for
non-payment of taxes. He went to their house to see if he could uncover
what was wrong. To his surprise, he found the naturally mummified bodies
of the woman, her son, and their dog.
Authorities believe that
they had been dead for over three years. Calendars and papers in the house
showed a February 1999 date; milk and cheese in the refrigerator had 1999
expiration dates. A heavy layer of dust coated everything in the house.
1. How could this have
happened?
Although the property taxes
had not been paid for a few years, the utility bills were automatically
paid from a bank account. The family friend found the lights, the
refrigerator, and the air conditioner still running. The air conditioner
kept the house cool and dry, a perfect environment for natural
mummification. The bodies, it should be noted, were only partially
mummified (the other part skeletonized).
2. Why did this happen?
Police wonder if the deaths
were a murder-suicide. Although there were no signs of foul play,
authorities have ordered autopsies to determine if any poisons or
narcotics were involved in the deaths. They also discovered two notes (one
a poem) written in German. Two lines from the poem read, "We will be
in heaven and where we are going we'll live forever and be in peace
forever."
