Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Family Sits Dead In House Since 1999...Just Discovered(Florida...Shocked?)
News-Press.Com | 11-20-02 | Adam Kovac

Posted on 11/20/2002 8:10:29 PM PST by 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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Germany; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 1999; deadgermans
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-86 next last
To: vikingchick
LOL
61 posted on 11/20/2002 9:31:25 PM PST by Registered
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: My Favorite Headache
What is important about us knowing the dog perished, in advance of the story?
62 posted on 11/20/2002 9:35:18 PM PST by TheLion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NMFXSTC
Light bulbs left on all the time will last a long time.

It's the turning them off and on a lot that burns 'em out.

63 posted on 11/20/2002 9:38:04 PM PST by chaosagent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: My Favorite Headache
There is food in the refrigerator that has expiration dates of 1999

Reminds me of Leslie Nielsen opening the Chinese food container.
64 posted on 11/20/2002 9:49:56 PM PST by Mike Fieschko
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mike Fieschko
I'd like to know how they avoided getting "junk mail",
or did they have a slot in the door so no one saw it piling up?
65 posted on 11/20/2002 9:54:48 PM PST by Ed Condon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: hole_n_one
**Nonetheless, 2000 election records will certainly show that they did in fact vote for Gore.**

LOL!
66 posted on 11/20/2002 9:59:04 PM PST by Salvation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: hole_n_one
And if they're buried in Chicago, the can still vote for Dem's.
67 posted on 11/20/2002 10:13:15 PM PST by Sapper26
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: TheLion
I know. I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if the dog lived longer than we think and he started eating the owner? Cold have been drinking from the toilet?
68 posted on 11/20/2002 10:18:45 PM PST by My Favorite Headache
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: Sapper26
LMAO
69 posted on 11/21/2002 12:41:25 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

Comment #70 Removed by Moderator

To: vikingchick
I don't know about Florida. In California it should be possible. If you vote at the polls you have to sign the register, if you vote absentee you are given a numbered absentee ballot (on the stub) and a code that goes on the outside of the return envelope.
71 posted on 11/21/2002 12:44:40 AM PST by altair
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Hap; Bacon Man
Ping to #9!
72 posted on 11/21/2002 5:47:21 AM PST by Xenalyte
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: billbears
In Florida?!? Cold enough for a heater?

Absolutely, it’s the humidity that makes it bad. I’ve lived all over the world including Germany, New Jersey, and North Carolina, and I’ve never felt colder then I did last winter in Florida. However, I do live in the panhandle and we’re sometimes considered South Alabama. =)

73 posted on 11/21/2002 7:55:47 AM PST by FLdeputy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: FLdeputy
we’re sometimes considered South Alabama.

The Republic of West Florida!

74 posted on 11/21/2002 8:00:09 AM PST by stainlessbanner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: FLdeputy
Now I don't know about that. From a life long North Carolinian our winters usually run a good 10-15 degrees at our coldest than Florida I'd think. And you know we've got the humidity. Course I spent 7 years in the mountains and I don't remember seeing in snowstorms in FL
75 posted on 11/21/2002 8:01:54 AM PST by billbears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: billbears
Floridians think so. My brother lights a fire when it goes down to 50 at night!
76 posted on 11/21/2002 2:27:25 PM PST by Bob Quixote
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Alouette
Were they logged on to America Online? Did someone pick up the telephone to see if they were still on hold for tech support?

LOL!

77 posted on 11/21/2002 2:52:21 PM PST by Bacon Man
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Tribune7
>>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.<<

I remember that, too.

He was in Germany (did they find him 3 or 4 years ago?) He had a TV guide in his lap dated 1985.

He was sitting in his chair in front of his TV, which was still on, all mummified like these. He had been a mean old recluse, so nobody missed him. They all thought he had moved away.
78 posted on 11/21/2002 3:02:10 PM PST by SerpentDove
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: SerpentDove
That's the one. And I think it was an apartment building. Serious rent protection.
79 posted on 11/21/2002 5:16:40 PM PST by Tribune7
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: My Favorite Headache
did they vote in 2000?
80 posted on 11/21/2002 5:17:56 PM PST by Sub-Driver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-86 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson