Family Sits Dead In House Since 1999...Just Discovered(Florida...Shocked?)

News-Press.Com | 11-20-02 | Adam Kovac

[My Favorite Headache]

Dead since 1999: Gruesome discovery in Lehigh

Dog perished with two Germans

By ADAM KOVAC, akovac@news-press.com

Lee County sheriff’s deputies found two mummified bodies in a Lehigh Acres home Wednesday that they believe have been dead since 1999.

Josef Fuchs Jr., 34, was found under the covers in bed, with a dead German shepherd next to him. His mother, Liz Fuchs, 70, was found on the floor by the dining room table with a blanket over her.

Heinz Rubin, 66, of Fort Myers, found the bodies when he went to check on the pair at their home at East Fifth Street and Hamilton Avenue after the property taxes were not paid.

The other bills were automatically paid through an electronic account. The lights and the air-conditioning were on in the residence.

Rubin has known the family since 1988 and managed the home for them while they were in Germany. He last saw them at the beginning of January 1999.

“They were in good spirits, I would say,” Rubin said. “There was nothing wrong. (Josef) said I’d like to go back to Germany.”

Rubin said no one had seen them since 1999 and in 2000 the police went to their apartment in Aachen, Germany near the Belgium border and they were not there. There was an indication the two had gone to Florida.

“I’d like to know too if it was a murder-suicide and where’s their rental car,” Rubin said. “It’s a pity.”

Rubin said Josef Fuchs, who had a nervous system disorder, was very smart and studied at a university in Germany.

“He was her only boy and even though he was in his 30s she still called him her little boy and he was always trying to prove that he was a big boy,” Heinz said.

There is no visible cause of death, said Lee County sheriff’s Maj. Richard Chard. He said investigators are looking at some medications found in the home.

Both bodies were mummified, he said.

There is food in the refrigerator that has expiration dates of 1999 and the last day on the calendar is Feb. 28, 1999, Chard said.

The grass in the front yard stands about three to four feet tall among the nearby homes with well-manicured yards. Children played soccer in a nearby yard as detectives investigated.

Detectives are canvassing the neighborhood, trying to determine the last time someone saw them.

[billbears]

In Florida?!? Cold enough for a heater?

[Samwise]

The Florida voter joke has already been used, so I will just BUMP this one.

[SuzanneC]

And she covered herself with a blanket when she passed out?!?

[crypt2k]

Remember the Challenger disaster in late Jan 1986?
Really cold air can move in - folks might
not have a heater so they turn on the oven or stove
which might not be properly vented. Or the heater
not have been used or serviced for long time
or the vents not properly cleared. It's
happend in San diego in recent years -
whole families wiped out.

[Tall_Texan]

Oh, give the guy a break. At the time, he was only 30. She had probably nagged him to death over not finding a "nice girl".

[crypt2k]

She may have been walking around in a blanket, then
expired from fumes.

[SamAdams76]

The other bills were automatically paid through an electronic account.

Nice to know that thanks to online banking, my bills will get paid years after I pass on.

This story reminds me of the guy who was found dead in his home after a couple of years with the Christmas lights still on.

[vikingchick]

Dog perished with two Germans

Even stranger: it was a German shepherd.

[Revolting cat!]

That is a tragic loss for the Democratic Party in 2004. Well, at least they got to vote this year, poor people!

[MinuteGal]

Are the authorities certain the duo's last name wasn't "Bates"?

Leni

[Jael]

Wow.

[The FRugitive]

“He was her only boy and even though he was in his 30s she still called him her little boy and he was always trying to prove that he was a big boy"

Yea, that struck me too. Definately pretty weird.

It sounds like it was a murder-suicide.

[MadelineZapeezda]

The lights and the air-conditioning were on in the residence.

Quick....someone tell me what kind of light bulbs they were using so I could go out and buy some. Mine don't last but for 5-6 months!!!!!!!!!

[The FRugitive]

If it was a murder-suicide, the least he could have done was let the dog out. Poor dog probably died of thirst.

[Dallas]

LMBO....

[an amused spectator]

You have any thoughts on this? ;-)

[Dallas]

Just further proof the United States is a terrible place to die - study

[nhoward14]

However, the city will now be sure to issue them a citation for their overgrown lawn.

[RGVTx]

The air conditioner was on, not a heater.

[jonascord]

Believe it! Having spent a couple of winters in the Sunshine State, and even going so far as to have a motorcycle my first January down there, 34 degrees F., and 80% humidity at 11 pm will chill you right to the core of your soul. Used to ride with a newspaper across my chest under the jacket, just to get a little warmer...