Antonio Famoso would have been 86 years old today, writes El País. But the man died in his seventies, about fifteen years ago. His clothed body was completely mummified and full of dead pigeons, insects and garbage. The fire brigade accidentally found the body in his bed on Saturday.
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The man and his partner separated thirty years ago. He lived in an apartment in a suburb of Valencia called La Fuensanta. The city was hit last weekend by Alice, a storm that brought heavy rainfall, flooding and mudslides.
Firefighters entered the sixth-floor apartment through a window on Saturday and found the body. They were there to clean up the rubble from the floods, several Spanish media reported.
No indications of a crime
The apartment door was locked from the inside and there is no evidence of foul play so far. The police therefore assume a natural death. However, the autopsy will provide more information, police said.
The question is how Antonio’s death could go unnoticed for so long. Those who knew the man call him withdrawn and lonely. Because they had not seen him for so long, the neighbors thought he had moved to a retirement home.
His mailbox was not overflowing after fifteen years. “Sometimes we empty neighbors’ buses to prevent squatters from thinking that an apartment is empty,” a local resident told El País.
Antonio continued to pay bills
According to neighbors, Antonio continued to pay his electricity and gas bills all these years, probably via direct debit. Because his pension continued to arrive – in Spain no proof of life is required – his account remained filled.
The man’s body was in an advanced state of decomposition, police said. Yet none of the neighbors were alarmed by the smell. “We didn’t notice anything strange,” a neighbor from the first floor told El País.
‘Window was open all the time’
“The window through which the pigeons entered was open all the time. This is how the bedroom was ventilated all those years.” Rafael, another neighbor, remembers that his aunt, who also lives in the building, noticed a strong stench years ago. However, the smell faded after a few days, so she didn’t report it.