Journal de recherche médico-légale

Ten-Year-Old Mummified Corpse Found in Domestic Setting in Rotterdam the Netherlands

Abstract

Karen Eline van den Hondel, Marcel Buster, Peter Paul Bender and Udo Reijnders

Introduction: On November 21, 2013 an approximately ten-year-old mummified corpse of a 74-year-old female was found in the living room of her apartment located near the city-center of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Definition: A domestic-setting corpse is defined as a dead body found in an urban area with a minimum postmortem interval of 24 hours.

Discussion: Not much research is performed about domestic setting corpses. In Rotterdam were 145 cases with a postmortem interval of at least 14 days in the period January 2006 until November 21, 2013. In the period from the finding of the ten-year-old mummified corpse (November 21, 2013) until December 31, 2015 there have been 42 domestic setting corpses with a postmortem interval of at least 14 days found in Rotterdam.

Conclusion: We recommend doing an extensive study with a broad perspective to examine the demographic and medical/mental problems and the characteristics of domestic setting corpses so local governments can arrange specific measurements to decrease the number of domestic setting corpses and lower the number of days’ people lie dead in their homes.