Woman's body 'undiscovered for more than a year'

The body of an elderly woman could have lain undiscovered for more than a year in her Fakenham home before it was found by police. Officers broke into the house on Tunn Street at about 9.20pm on Thursday after receiving an anonymous call.

No details were last night released about the condition of the body but police said piles of unopened mail and unread newspapers on her doormat, dating back at least a year, told their own story.

Det Insp Paul Chapman said: “As a result of police inquiries relating to unopened mail and newspapers it appears the body may have been at the location in excess of 12 months. I would stress we are not treating this as suspicious but we want to speak to the person who called us about how they knew the body was in the house.”


Photo from here.

The body was removed yesterday morning as attempts continued to find the woman's next of kin. And last night the house stood quiet after investigators left the scene to try and solve the riddle of who she was, who discovered her and why no-one noticed her disappearance.

Neighbours said the house's occupant was rarely seen and shunned human contact - giving no clues she ever lived permanently at the address or that anything had happened to her.

They spoke of their shock and sadness that the woman's death went unnoticed for so long in their neighbourhood just a short distance from the town's bustling market place.