Woman Died Watching TV — 42 Years Unoticed
- Kavisht
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
In 2008, the door to a small attic apartment in Zagreb, Croatia, was finally opened. What the people expected to find was an empty flat.
Instead, they discovered something no one could have imagined.
Inside the apartment, sitting in an armchair, was the mummified body of Hedviga Golik—a woman who had died over 35 years earlier, and had remained there ever since.
This is the true story of how a woman disappeared, even though she never left her home.
Who Was Hedviga Golik?
Born in 1924, Hedviga Golik was a former nurse who lived alone in a small attic flat on Medveščak Street in Zagreb. According to those who lived in the building, she was quiet, kept to herself, and wasn’t very social. Some neighbors described her as “odd” or “mentally unwell,” though there was never any medical confirmation.
In the 1960s or early 1970s, she stopped being seen. Some assumed she had moved to Belgrade or joined a religious group. Others thought she simply left the city. Because of these assumptions, no missing person report was ever filed.
And her door remained shut—for decades.
The Apartment Where Time Stopped
Hedviga’s home was an 18-square-meter attic apartment, accessed by a private staircase. No other tenants shared her floor. No one passed by her door.
When police and tenant representatives finally forced their way inside in May 2008, the scene looked like something from the past. Everything in the apartment was untouched since the 1970s.
A black-and-white television stood quietly in the corner.
A teacup was still on the table.
Cobwebs filled the corners.
Thick layers of dust coated the furniture.
And Hedviga was still there—seated in her armchair, dressed warmly, covered with a blanket. She had died naturally and peacefully, but no one noticed.
Why No One Smelled Anything
Forensic experts believe Hedviga likely died in the winter, sometime around 1966. Because the air in the flat was cold and dry, and possibly because a window was open, her body dried out instead of decomposing.
This process is called natural mummification. It meant that the usual strong odors associated with death were either brief or completely missed.
That’s how she remained undisturbed for decades—right above people’s heads.
People Knew — But Didn’t Act
Over the years, there were signs something wasn’t right.
In 1981, neighbors settled a loan in her name.
In 1991, a tenant filed an official notice claiming the flat was abandoned.
In 1998, a fake census notice was taped to her door, warning people not to disturb the property. The city later confirmed it was not an official document.
Electricity bills were paid for years—allegedly by the building’s original architect, who died in 2005.
Still, no one opened the door.
Instead, tenants quietly wondered who would eventually get to claim the flat.
In 2008, when a few tenant representatives finally entered the apartment, it wasn’t to check on Hedviga. It was to begin a property dispute.
A Death That Tells Us Something About Ourselves
Hedviga’s story is disturbing—not because of how she died, but because of what happened afterward.
She didn’t vanish. She wasn’t missing. She was right there the whole time. But she lived in a world where it was easier for people to assume, to delay, and to stay quiet.
No family member came forward. No friend noticed her absence. Her death wasn’t hidden — it was simply ignored.
And that’s the hardest part to accept.
Stories Like This Still Happen
What happened to Hedviga isn’t just history.
Similar cases have happened in other parts of the world:
Joyce Vincent in London died in her apartment in 2003. She was found in 2006.
Pia Farrenkopf in Detroit was found in her garage six years after her death.
In every case, the world around them moved on while their lives silently ended.
We think we’re more connected than ever. But stories like this show how easy it still is for someone to go unnoticed — even while living among others.
