July 2009

The badly decomposed remains of an 89-year-old woman were discovered in her flat five years after she died, Edinburgh police have revealed.

Isabella Purves’ body was only found after a downstairs neighbour noticed water dripping through the ceiling of her tenement flat and reported it to the local council.

Douglas McLellan, of Age Concern and Help the Aged in Scotland, said it was a ‘tragic case’…”If she was not receiving care treatment from anyone and not receiving social care, then the likelihood of being found quickly is minimal…The question is not just about public services finding people and neighbours checking up, it’s about how elderly people themselves are living their lives. If they’re leading private lives, then how are people going to find them?”

The answer to that question is partly what this site is about.

Read the full story from the Daily Mail. Woman, 85, lay dead in her flat for FIVE YEARS before anyone noticed