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Blind Brooklyn Woman May Not Have Known She Was Living With Corpse Of Dead Son For Years


By

Ben Yakas

Published Sep 25, 2016

Modified Sep 25, 2016


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By

Ben Yakas

Published Sep 25, 2016

Modified Sep 25, 2016


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Last week, police discovered that a Brooklyn woman had been living with the corpse of her deceased adult son for years. Now, the Post reports that Rita Wolfensohn, who is a legally blind hoarder, may not have known her son's corpse was there.

The NYPD discovered the corpse at a home on Avenue N near East 22nd Street in Midwood on September 15th. Sister-in-law Josette Buchman was at the home because Wolfensohn had fallen and had to be hospitalized. When Buchman went to retrieve some belongings for her, she made the discovery, and notified authorities.

Police sources told the Post that Buchman found a “completely intact” skeleton, dressed in jeans, socks and a shirt, lying on its back on a thin mattress on the floor of a second floor bedroom. "It’s like some reverse Psycho scene," the source commented.

Apparently, the room where the body was found was filled with cobwebs and garbage (as if "a garbage truck had dumped its load" inside), and smelled of rotting food, not rotting flesh.

The corpse is believed to be one of Wolfensohn's two sons; one died in 2003 at the age of 38, while the other, who would be around 49 years old today, hasn't been seen by relatives in 20 years.

Officials believe that son died of natural causes. When cops questioned Wolfensohn, she spoke about her son as if he had simply moved out.

Tagged

brooklyn

corpse

midwood


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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