Mummified Body Found in Front of Blaring TV

NEW YORK (Feb. 19) - Police called to a Long Island man’s house discovered the mummified remains of the resident, dead for more than a year, sitting in front of a blaring television set.

The 70-year-old Hampton Bays, New York, resident, identified as Vincenzo Ricardo, appeared to have died of natural causes. Police said Saturday his body was discovered Thursday when they were called to the house over a burst water pipe.

“You could see his face. He still had hair on his head,” Newsday quoted morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus as saying. The home’s low humidity had preserved the body.

Officials could not explain why the electricity had not been turned off, considering Ricardo had not been heard from since December 2005.

Neighbors said when they had not seen Ricardo, who was diabetic and had been blind for years, they assumed he was in the hospital or a long-term care facility.

What a weird and truly sad story. I wonder why the neighbors didn’t wonder about a ‘blaring’ television if they thought he had gone to a long-term care facility.

Still - all in all - it makes me wonder what kind of life he lead that no one would have missed him at all.

tiara tip: The Median Sib