"Natalie Jean Wood was found on the floor by her bed in her Surry Hills home in July 2011, a month before her 87th birthday. The inquest into Ms Wood's death began today [February 06, 2014] ... The court was told she may have been dead for up to eight years when the remains were discovered."
Three years to start an inquest? How many witnesses have died during that time? No wonder the poor woman's death went unnoticed.
Didn't the Tax Office notice that she had stopped filing returns? Didn't the local council notice that she wasn't paying her rates? Didn't CentreLink notice that she was ignoring requests to update her income and assets details? Didn't the postman notice that her letterbox was full? Didn't the neighbours notice that something was wrong?
If Osama bin Laden had hidden out in Surry Hills instead of Abbottabad he might still be alive.
hako said
09:14 AM Feb 7, 2014
Dunno - many pensioners do not need to submit a tax return - if she was in a flat there would be no council rates to pay - her rent would be paid direct from Centrelink account - Centrelink only want income/asset details if they change - many people do not get mail - flat dwellers keep to themselves.
If rent was regularly taken from her Centrelink account, then Centrelink would think she was still alive as the account was being used.
So maybe it's not unexpected after all.
Regards
Ontos45 said
11:36 AM Feb 7, 2014
Doesn't stop the relies lining up for a piece of her estate though does it? Where were they?
Agree @ Ontos45 , where were they before ? Poor lady .
Sheba said
08:28 PM Feb 7, 2014
hako wrote:
If rent was regularly taken from her Centrelink account, then Centrelink would think she was still alive as the account was being used. So maybe it's not unexpected after all. Regards
She was not paying rent. She owned the house she lived in, according to one news report last night. I'm surprised the Council hadn't claimed it, for Rates Arrears.
In the case of the Perth bloke, he was undiscovered for two years, despite his Dept of Housing flat being next door to their office. They were supposed to have 6 months inspections that apparent didn't happen. Neighbours had reported not sighting him to the Dept but they still took no action to check out his flat.......
Kooroorinya Kelpie said
10:08 PM Feb 7, 2014
This is a sad indictment of the world we now live in. Gone are the days when mates looked out for mates and neighbours likewise. As I see it, particularly in the cities, every one is in there own time/space capsule and anything outside of that does not exist. As a youngster living in rural areas it was customary to call in on the neighbours if you never saw them at least every second day and if one of your neighbours had the flu, or was otherwise indisposed, my mother would go over and do the housekeeping, us kids would chop the firewood, mow the lawn or walk down to the shop to get supplies. 40+ years ago it was a different world and in my opinion a better world. Regards the OP I can remember 25 or so years ago, when we owned a bottle shop in inner western Sydney, a similar scenario and many of our customers lived near to the victim but none of them knew her name. Talking to one of the local coppers shortly after the discovery of her body he told me that when they forced entry they had to wade through a great pile of mail which the postie had had to force through the mail slot. We re currently in a very remote area of NW Qld where our nearest neighbours are 15km away but within a few weeks of arriving here last September nearly all of the neighbours had called in and offered any help we required. Does this not work when you only live 15 metres from your neighbour ? If not why not ? When on the road or parked up in a rest area/ free camp/ caravan park if you see some person needing a hand do you wander over and ask " can I give you a hand old mate". or do you just shrug your shoulders and keep on doing probably nothing ? Apart from Robinson Crusoe nobody survives successfully on their own. Ask yourself " would I like my exit from planet earth to be like this poor soul" and the answer will be no. Cheers.
Nelly said
08:38 AM Feb 8, 2014
I saw on the news the other night that some of neighbours thought she had gone to the country - you think somebody would have suspected something. The sister-in-law said she didn't have time to call around but she was there to see how the estate finished up - apparently the lady didn't have a will so I suppose the government will get their share. Certainly a sad state of affairs.
GaryKelly said
10:35 AM Feb 8, 2014
One person not in the least perturbed by it taking 8 years to discover her death was Natalie.
barina said
11:09 AM Feb 8, 2014
Very sad. I keep an eye on my 2 elderly neighbours, especially in the heat we have had in Melbourne. I take note if their blinds are open, plants, watered, bins put out or taken in and often just call in to see if they are ok and need anything. Does not take any effort ay all, I hope someone does it for me.
Gerty Dancer said
07:22 PM Feb 8, 2014
I've just spent the day with my elderly Aunt. She celebrated her 90th birthday by going on a hot-air balloon ride, and I reckon nobody would dare forget her!!
I've met oldies who like their privacy. This old lady was called a recluse, perhaps she didn't want people "sticking their noses in"?
Rip and Rosie said
11:01 PM Feb 8, 2014
Lots of people simply don't get on with others, or have a mental health condition which alienates them from friends and family.
There are lots of marginalised people whose families have simply run out of stamina.
We shouldn't be too quick to blame family and neighbours when we only have the media's perspective on it all.
george57 said
08:28 AM Feb 9, 2014
I hear what you are saying Dorian, and in an aging population in a society where a large proportion of elderly are living alone, it may be a trend that will be increasing rather than decreasing!
A sad thought....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-06/inquest-hears-recluse27s-death-undiscovered-for-years/5243736
"Natalie Jean Wood was found on the floor by her bed in her Surry Hills home in July 2011, a month before her 87th birthday. The inquest into Ms Wood's death began today [February 06, 2014] ... The court was told she may have been dead for up to eight years when the remains were discovered."
Three years to start an inquest? How many witnesses have died during that time? No wonder the poor woman's death went unnoticed.
Didn't the Tax Office notice that she had stopped filing returns? Didn't the local council notice that she wasn't paying her rates? Didn't CentreLink notice that she was ignoring requests to update her income and assets details? Didn't the postman notice that her letterbox was full? Didn't the neighbours notice that something was wrong?
If Osama bin Laden had hidden out in Surry Hills instead of Abbottabad he might still be alive.
If rent was regularly taken from her Centrelink account, then Centrelink would think she was still alive as the account was being used.
So maybe it's not unexpected after all.
Regards
Similar incident happened in Perth in 2011, see;
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/10220370/dignified-farewell-for-pensioner-who-died-alone/
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/skeletal-remains-deceased-lonely-pensioner-is-english-expat-20110714-1hf0c.html
In the case of the Perth bloke, he was undiscovered for two years, despite his Dept of Housing flat being next door to their office. They were supposed to have 6 months inspections that apparent didn't happen. Neighbours had reported not sighting him to the Dept but they still took no action to check out his flat.......
Very sad. I keep an eye on my 2 elderly neighbours, especially in the heat we have had in Melbourne. I take note if their blinds are open, plants, watered, bins put out or taken in and often just call in to see if they are ok and need anything. Does not take any effort ay all, I hope someone does it for me.
I've met oldies who like their privacy. This old lady was called a recluse, perhaps she didn't want people "sticking their noses in"?
There are lots of marginalised people whose families have simply run out of stamina.
We shouldn't be too quick to blame family and neighbours when we only have the media's perspective on it all.
A sad thought....
George