You can say that he died alone because that's the way he wanted it, which is why his body was not discovered for over 12 years.

This occurred in an apartment block in the city of Valencia. Antonio Famoso Jiménez had no family because he broke off contact with them a long time ago, he barely spoke with his neighbours when they passed him in the lift or on the stairs. He also had no close friends who missed him.

He had separated from his wife in 1990, wanting nothing to do with his two children, renouncing custody of them, aged 13 and 14 at the time. He even went so far as to disinherit them when they came of age.

After the family went their own way, Antonio, a retired bricklayer, kept the family home and his ex-wife and two children had to leave.

After that, they had no contact with him in all those 35 years that passed; they didn’t want to see him, nor he, them.

It wasn’t until 35 years later that his skeleton was found on the 11th of October by fire personnel; the block chairman had called them in because of a water leak coming from his flat. In his flat, besides his body, were kilos of old rubbish.

They called the police who inspected the flat and saw no signs of somebody having broken in or anything that could have suggested a violent death. Furthermore, the door was closed from the inside with a latch and chain, which added to the hypothesis that the man had died of natural causes when he was alone in the house.

One of the officers found his ID; Antonio Famoso, retired bricklayer, born in 1939, amongst his possessions.

The last time the neighbours remember having seen him alive was on January 24, 2013, just over 12 years ago, at meeting of the block, owners community. The block administrators had noted down the name of all those in attendance.

The last time that the block administrator wrote any reference about him in official documents was to note his worrying absence in 2016: “The strange disappearance of the owner of flat 12 has been commented upon. There is no death certificate nor is his whereabouts known.”

Nobody had commented about a bad smell coming from the flat but the block chairman did call the police, expressing their concern that he might be lying dead inside but the police didn’t follow up on it. It was only discovered nine years after that following a water leak coming from his flat.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Valencia)

Keywords: Died Alone, Body Discovered, Skeleton

news, valencia, city & metropolitan area, died alone, body discovered, skeleton

Reader’s comment: “This is a shocking story yet indicative of modern life and you read about it more and more throughout the world. It is so important to keep family and friends close.” – Roberto

Reader’s comment: “Keeping family and friends close is easier said than done. As you become older and maybe infirm you become irrelevant to younger people (some of whom are of an age to be considered old themselves); it helps if you are mobile and can get out and about, maybe then some of your friends or acquaintances will notice if you need help. Best to make connections in your local community especially if all your family members live in a different country.” – Georg