December 5, 2007
Woman's Death Somewhat Ignored for 2 Years
Brooklyn resident Christina Copeman became a recluse after the death of her husband 17 years ago, more so as she began to succumb to Alzheimer's disease. She wouldn't answer greetings from neighbors and eventually refused to come to the door when people knocked.
The full consequences of her isolation weren't realized until this week, when police broke down the door to her apartment and found her skeletal remains dressed, and wearing a coat and hat as if she were about to go out. She was curled in a fetal position and a medical exam determined that she succumbed to heart disease.
She had lain there for two years, slowly decomposing as friends and neighbors made occasional inquiries into her whereabouts. Neighbors called the police to report bad smells coming from Copeman's apartment, but when cops arrived they said they couldn't detect anything.
The grandmother's mail stacked up--eventually piling four feet high--but the block's mail carrier didn't make special note of it because he only delivered her a few letters a month. A building inspector came to investigate a report that her dwelling wasn't being properly maintained, but didn't bother to gain entry to the apartment before filing a report on a faulty roof as the source of a leak. Family members' calls to 311 were shunted off to different agencies, but never the right one that could have led to her discovery.
Copeman's nephew Peter Bishop says he knocked on his aunt's door 15 times over the last two years and called the cops repeatedly. This weekend he reported her missing and the police knocked down the woman's apartment door to find her fully clothed skeleton. An employee with the city's medical examiner's office said the scene wasn't gruesome, just sad.
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I guess her rent was direct withdrawal or something?
absolutely ridiculous
That.is.so.tragic.
that.is.tragic
It took her nephew 2 years to report her missing?
A very sad story.
Who was paying the rent? Doesn't the person who pays the rent have the authority to have the door opened (whether it be by the super, the fire dept, the police, etc.)?
If only the skeletal remains were left, just how was the medical examiner able to conclude that she died of heart disease? Can anybody answer that question for me?
Sorry for my obnoxious amount of posts. It kept saying some shit about an external error and would not show my post. Now I look like a huge douchebag. Sorry.
how is this story sad? A corpse living rent free for 2 years in a warm and cozy environment is better than a homeless person breathing and living garbage in the bitter winter night.
Building inspectors do not have the right under law to gain entry into or onto private property except in cases of imminent structural danger. Plus, they are not there to to look for dead bodies, sad to say.
Also, the headline should read "somehow" ignored.
The FDNY does not need a search warrant or anything else to enter an apartment. If there appears to be any kind of problem in the space they can take the door.
I was also kind of surprised that the ME could determine the cause of death that quickly given the state of the body. At the same time it takes them weeks to release cause of death of a victim that has a twelve inch kitchen knife sticking out of their chest.
It's sad that we can let this happen to our elderly. Since these stories come out once a year, I'd hate to think how often it actually happens and isn't publicized.
I also must agree, how the hell did she live rent free for two years without a marshall breaking the lock off the door? I want her landlord.
#12 - read the link in the posting.
This woman owned the building; she was not a renter. Nothing was mentioned about her having any renters, so it's possible that she may have been the only occupant of the building.
Woman's death ignored for two years and we've got a board full of posts about how she got by without rent (whazaa? old people are allowed to own property?). Viva NYC!