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Man lay dead in bed for two years, condo fees and bills were still being paid

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G

goodcow

Member
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...858&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

Man lay dead in bed for two years
Condo fees and bills were still being paid
Body finally found in mummified state

WINNIPEG—His telephone number was still listed in the telephone directory and his condominium fees and bills were automatically being withdrawn from his bank account.

No one knew Jim Sulkers had died in his bed almost two years ago.

Neighbour Sam Shuster said residents in the complex often wondered where the man they knew only as Jim had gone, but were told his condominium fees were still being paid.

"How can that happen, for God's sake. Two years!" Shuster said yesterday of the man who had been a resident in the building since the mid-1980s.

"I used to ask the president of the board of directors where in the hell is he? She said all she knew was the bank gets the monthly money so we don't worry about it."

Sulkers' remains were discovered Wednesday. Manitoba's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, determined he had died of natural causes.

Sulkers, believed to be in his 50s, had multiple sclerosis. Balachandra said there were no signs of trauma and he was able to quickly rule out homicide, suicide or accident as a cause of death. But because the body was in a mummified state, he could not determine an exact cause.

He said a newspaper dated Nov. 21, 2002, was found in the man's apartment and a wall calendar was opened to November 2002 — evidence the man died nearly two years ago.

A cousin, Kim Dyck of Winnipeg, said she lost contact with the man after his mother died about 10 years ago, but relatives had attempted to make contact with Sulkers last summer when they were in the city for a wedding.

"They knocked on his door and he didn't answer," she said. "You assume he isn't home. You certainly don't assume he's dead."

She said the man's bills must have been covered by a pension cheque automatically deposited into his bank account.

Neighbours said Sulkers' mailbox had become full several times and was always emptied by a letter carrier.

Canada Post spokesman Brian Garagan said letter carriers are required to clear full mailboxes and inform a supervisor, who calls the condo owner. He said the corporation was trying to determine if that policy was followed.

He said Sulkers' mail delivery was halted at some point but he wasn't sure when. He said he would be talking to the letter carrier on the route.

Marcel Baril, executive director of the Family Centre in Winnipeg, called the situation bizarre and sad. "It's odd that we live in a society where technology can take care of our affairs like that, even if we passed away two years ago, and nobody's noticed."

A spokeswoman for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada said the disease itself was not fatal but complications could be.

Canadian Press
Click to expand...
 
D

DaCocoBrova

Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
B000050FEN.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 
S

Spike Spiegel

Member
Poor guy... Dead for 2 years and nobody cared enough to find out what happened to him or where he was? That's just so wrong on so many levels. I really hope something like that doesn't happen to me.
 
H

HAOHMARU

Member
Isn't the Star a tabloid? If so why have we come to source tabloids?

And if true, how come the fucking mailman didn't notice a 2 year pile up of his mail?

Its bull shit.
 
E

explodet

Member
HAOHMARU said:
Isn't the Star a tabloid? If so why have we come to source tabloids?
Click to expand...
This is from the Toronto Star, which is a daily newspaper. Did you follow the link?

HAOHMARU said:
And if true, how come the fucking mailman didn't notice a 2 year pile up of his mail?
Click to expand...
Canada Post spokesman Brian Garagan said letter carriers are required to clear full mailboxes and inform a supervisor, who calls the condo owner. He said the corporation was trying to determine if that policy was followed.

He said Sulkers' mail delivery was halted at some point but he wasn't sure when. He said he would be talking to the letter carrier on the route.
Click to expand...
Did you READ the article?
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Thats so sad...2 years and nobody noticed. He must have be a lonely man even before he died.
 
M

mrmyth

Member
At some point he bloated and started to stink. That's just natural. Unfortunately, with MS patients who aren't doing so well, they have some issues getting rid of body fluids by themselves. There was probably always a slight smell coming from his condo and his neighbors assumed it was normal.
 
C

cvxfreak

Member
Nearly two years? Damn. It'spossible the condo was big enough so that the smell hadn't become widespread through the entire complex, but even then I thought landlords checked up on their property every once and a while.
 
T

teiresias

Member
but even then I thought landlords checked up on their property every once and a while.
Click to expand...

Can't you technically buy a condo though? Meaning the condo was actually the man's property and he'd be responsible for upkeep. I mean, at the apartments I just left they did monthly inspections of all plumbing fixtures in every apartment so that would never happen here. But if the man owned his condominium I'm not sure there was a "landlord" per say. Of course, I'm not sure how the whole condo thing works.
 
F

fennec fox

ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
Being a condo owner he probably paid a little bit to pay for the upkeep of the building, etc. That's what the "board of directors" in the article is about.

Of course, it's funny -- maybe it was different 50 years ago, but I sure don't talk to any of my neighbors. The guys next door might also be dead, for all I know.
 
F

Fowler

Member
That's quite depressing to think that nobody really truly cared enough to notice that he was dead for two years.

Something kinda similar happened to me -- my neighbour died in her sleep and the cops broke into her flat from mine (our balconies are connected by a low wall, easy to vault over that). I really never knew her, we saw each other only a handful of times in the two years she lived next door, but someone noticed right away because the cops came through after only a couple of days. She wasn't all that old either.
 
W

White Man

Member
I live in fear of being alone or forgotten. To be completely inconsequential like this while still being alive would be completely intolerable and likely push me into true blue psychosis. If I'm going to be completely ignored and forgotten, at least let me have the dignity of it happening after death. Of course, if I conquer all my fears and hang ups, I hopefully will never be forgotten.
 
G

Grimlock

Member
Wasn't there some news story on Yahoo a couple of months back about some guy dying in a Japanese apartment and wasn't found until 20 years later or something? I tried searching for it, but nothing came up.
 
C

calder

Member
I saw the headlines on the paper on my way to work this morning but didn't bother reading it. At first I assumed it was Mainline dying in a pool of his own drunken filth, but then I remembered I saw him last month.

CONSPIRACY THEORY: didn't Khari's talent die almost exactly 2 years ago? Coincidence??
jones_85968.jpg
 
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