Police: 90-year-old living with 3 siblings' bodies

[WhiteTara]

Source: AP

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — A 90-year-old woman well-liked by her neighbors apparently has been living in a house with the bodies of three siblings, one of whom may have been dead since the early 1980s, police say.

Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther says the bodies were found Friday in Evanston, a Chicago suburb, after authorities were called by a senior advocate.

The woman was taken to a hospital for observation. Her identity was not released.

Autopsies were planned but Guenther said police do not suspect foul play. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said it could be some time before causes of death can be determined because the deaths occurred so long ago.

Neighbors described the woman as alert and aware, and said she was well liked on their close-knit block of large, historic homes. She enjoyed gardening and shared her plants with others, they said.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRVlNjZHuzLKkxS5PK7w2gmmZXcAD94AU70O0

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human beings are so interesting and strange

[Drunken Irishman]

1. That is nuts, but awesome at the same time.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. did she have any chainsaws in the house?

and invite horny pot-smoking teenagers over?

[Muttocracy]

2. but some of the other siblings must have lived there too during that!

"
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the dead as Anita Bernstorff, who was last seen alive in May 2008, Frank Bernstorff, not seen alive since 2003, and Elaine Bernstorff, who was last seen alive in the early 1980s.

Anita Bernstorff was the eldest, born in 1910. "

[Demeter]

3. A REALLY Close=Knit Family

Such a lonely old woman....

[enough]

5. "human beings are so interesting and strange"

You, BareNakedLiberal, are the epitome of open-mindedness, one of DU's cardinal virtues. (And I'm not joking!)

[WhiteTara]

9. I'm pretty strange too!

we're all just trying to live here, you know?

But thank you for saying that!

[IndyOp]

6. She must've had some way of mummifying the bodies? Herbs from the garden?

:shrug:

I don't so much mind the idea of having dead bodies in the house as I mind what happens to the dead bodies soon after death...

:scared:

[UndertheOcean]

7. Ok , how could she bear the smell ? Dead bodies really stink , I mean REALLY

[undeterred]

8. Maybe she embalmed them using ancient Egyptian techniques,

Or maybe she has no sense of smell.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. I wondered that too. Even stuffing them into a cedar wardrobe wouldn't doo too much to help

[kickysnana]

21. I have two elderly relatives with NO sense of smell. n/t

[Nevernose]

10. A Rose for Emily?

Weird, we read that story in class just last week.

[curse of greyface]

11. Yeah till your van breaks down nearby and they invite you in to see their hockey mask collection. nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

12. " and shared her plants with others,"

Um, were there three rather large ones?

[appleannie1]

13. The two siblings that died later had to have known.

[Kalifornia.Kid]

14. Creepy - she was seen by a neighbor passing out candy on Halloween ...

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/08/Three_bodies_found_in_elderly_womans_home/UPI-57151226147357/

[bmbmd]

15. I would imagine it is all about

keeping those social security checks coming.

[eilen]

20. probably couldn't afford the cost

of funeral/burial too-- it's freaking expensive-- thousands of dollars.

[sybylla]

22. That's what I was thinking.

SS death benefit is $250. Can't do much with that.

[Raine]

16. Poor woman

:-(

[AlbertCat]

17. When does the movie come out?... And who's in it?

[crossroads]

19. Sad and disturbing

There was a recent case of this in my area... the son (in his 70s) who had a history of mental problems, just covered his father with a sheet after he died and went on with his life! Some say it was to keep collecting his fathers social security checks, but who knows? There were all kinds of candles around the body which they claim had been dead for about 5 years!
CR

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. No one in her home since the '80s? Bless her pea-pickin' heart!

Poor dear.