Woman’s dead body lies in flat for 35 years
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Governments have changed. War erupted and ended. Neighbors had children, and then grandchildren. But Hedviga Golik never left her tiny apartment in Croatia’s capital — until her mummified body was carried out this week, 35 years after she died.
Police said Friday that no one ever reported Golik missing and no one has come to claim her body.
Residents of her loft building in downtown Zagreb had broken into Golik’s flat after deciding that the apartment should belong to them, and not to her. Startled by the remains in bed, they called police.
Experts said her windows had been open, likely diminishing the smell. It remained unclear who — if anyone — was paying her bills and who exactly owned the apartment. In the 1970s, when Golik died, apartments were state-owned.