New York: More than a year after death, LI man found in front of his TV

The Boston Herald ^ | February 17, 2007

[Stoat]

More than a year after death, LI man found in front of his TV
By Associated Press
Saturday, February 17, 2007 - Updated: 12:04 PM EST

HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y. - A man’s body was found in his home more than a year after his death, with the television still on and his features preserved by dry conditions, officials said.     Vincenzo Ricardo, 70, apparently died of natural causes, said Dr. Stuart Dawson, Suffolk County’s deputy chief medical examiner. Southampton Town police found Ricardo’s body this week when they responded to a report of burst pipes.     Ricardo was found in a chair in front of the television set, as though he were watching it, Dawson said.     The home’s dry air had left his features intact, morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus said.     ”You could see his face. He still had hair on his head,” Bacchus said.     Ricardo’s wife died years ago, and he lived alone, Dawson said.     ”He hasn’t been heard from in over a year. That’s the part that baffles me,” he said. ”Nobody sounded the alarm.”     Neighbors said they had thought Ricardo was in a hospital or nursing home. Still, neighbor Diane Devon said residents at a gathering last month remarked that they hadn’t seen him in some time.     ”We never thought to check on him,” she said.

[Joe 6-pack]

I was thinking the same before I read your remarks...I think this story kind of illustrates how easily we can all become isolated from each other as our lives become increasingly automated. If I died in my sleep tonight, my coworkers would try calling me Monday, and somebody from work would swing by on Monday, lunchtime at the latest. I wonder how many telecommuters would just be written off, their employers assuming they just went to work for somebody else....

[deport]

Hurrican Rita hit the Tx coast Sept 24, 2005..... On Jan. 26, 2007 the deterioated remains of a man was
discovered in his home. They think he died during the hurricane some 15 months prior...

http://www.kfdm.com/onset?id=18870&template=article.html&dateformat=%25M+%25e,%25Y

[Slings and Arrows]

Somehow, Keith Olbermann is to blame.

[Slings and Arrows]

Oddly enough, he was supposedly blind.

Good catch. Re the TV: He may have been legally blind, but retained some vision., or maybe he just listened to the sound.

[sphinx]

It makes one think. How many freepers are there that we haven't heard from recently? How many may be sitting dead, in their chairs, fingers frozen in the act of hitting "Post."

[Cementjungle]

What brand was the TV set??

More importantly, what channel was he watching at the time of death?

[Robert A Cook PE]

8<)

I'd have several people from work checking: maybe not the first day, certainly after the third day off with no notice.

I'd have neighbors even sooner, and the church LEM'ers/ushers would coming looking after the first two days I missed a schedule.

But my family even quicker.

A sad end to a forgotten person, may he (continue) to rest in peace.

[traumer]

The key to the story is:
nobody cares about anything... except themselves

[Stoat]

It makes one think. How many freepers are there that we haven't heard from recently? How many may be sitting dead, in their chairs, fingers frozen in the act of hitting "Post."

That's one of the very sad aspects of interaction on the internet.  One one hand, we benefit from and develop a sense of community through interacting, but at the same time it's not a 'real' community because everyone is terrified of giving out any personal information online because there may be that one psychopath lurking in the shadows who will come to your home and skin you alive, or that sixteen year old Russian hacker who will drain your bank account and destroy your life.

Those who have any sort of coherent and developed writing ability will naturally convey some aspects of their personalities, which will create more personal bonds with others ( or, in some cases, huge walls) and so then when that person stops posting there will be those who have "known" the poster and so feel a sense of loss, but it's a loss that's impossible to reconcile because it's as if that person has just been sucked out of your life and there is no closure, only a vacuum.

On other boards that I've been involved with prior to FR I got to "know" some other people a little better than in the usual anonymous,  superficial way and there was one young lady who I interacted with over the course of about seven years, and she let me into her life just a bit.  During the time that I interacted with her, she developed MS, grew more and more infirm, married a brutal, belligerent and alcoholic Turk and died a painful death, never having been very happy to my knowledge.  She lived thousands of miles away and I never met her, and so when a life passes in that way it's a difficult thing for others to come to terms with in the same way that we can with a person whom we have actually met.

There's no online 'funeral', and many times posters simply disappear after years of involvement and nobody knows what happened to them. 

[ApplegateRanch]

I'm technically a 'senor', and do almost everything paperless & online, but refuse to automate payments/reciepts.

I want to have to look for bogus charges before paying; especially DishNetwork, since they often like to periodically add a charge for an extra reciever that we have never had.

It is much easier to dispute & pay a corrected amount, than to get a correction in a timely fashion after payment is made.

Our power & phone co-ops will send someone out if they suddenly cease getting payments, too.

[Slings and Arrows]

>>>I'm technically a 'senor',

¡Hola, amigo!

[radiohead]

That's good to know that the utilities will come out if they haven't heard from you. I'm by myself and worry a little about being found in front of the tv after a year myself.

I didn't mean to say that seniors don't use alternate means of bill paying or technology, tho it has been my experience that many don't. On the other hand, I often have to tell my students that seniors (which for college kids seems to include people in their 50s) are not as naive about technology as they may think.

I worked with elderly blacks in Philly. Trying to get them to use direct deposit was as much to protect them from the scum that preyed on them as they went to the store or bank as it was to simplify their lives.

[SampleMan]

Great. When you fall and break a hip and no one cares why your mail is piling up, I suppose you'll have about a week to contemplate what a great choice you've made, before you finally die of dehydration.

Best of luck with that.

[vaudine]

If his pension/SS went to the bank and he had his monthly bills drafted from his account, it could have happened.

vaudine

[ApplegateRanch]

I worked with elderly blacks in Philly.

Location makes all the difference. I also did things somewhat differently when I lived in the 'big city'. Bad area (i.e. even worse than most, though not as bad as the worst) in San Francisco; also various places in "Greater Los Angeles". Tucson presented problems and solutions with its own tailored twists.

The present semi-isolated ranch in a county with total population of about 8,000 is completely different.

[b4its2late]

Yep. No death recorded, the money keeps flowing. But wait until SS finds out the date of death.... They'll want their money back and they will get it one way or another.

[Stoat]

I see that Drudge has finally discovered this story; better late than never, Matt :-)

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Revolting cat!]

What's so sad about it, you sentimental fools? The dude died actively performing the job he loved to do, his body is in perfect shape, thanks to, yes, television, and the waves it emits (Vladimir Lenin, eat your heart out!), all his bills are paid, he's one happy camper now.

[Revolting cat!]

I can just see many here found decades after death glued to their computer screens smooching the Day in the Life of daily thread!