Woman buys apartment and finds previous owner's long-dead corpse in the kitchen

It was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of her life. A young woman thought that she had snapped up her ideal apartment in the sought-after area of Lisbon, in Portugal. But when she walked into the flat for the first time instead of feeling like it was her home sweet home she had a terrible shock.

For lying on the kitchen floor was the rotting corpse of the previous owner, Augusta Martinho's. Ms Martinho had lived alone at the flat with her pet dog for several years before she went missing in August 2002 ago aged 88. Local authorities tried desperately to find her but they failed to come up with the slightest trace.

Police even tried to break down the front door of the flat but it was jammed shut. Neighbours of the woman, who is not believed to have family, feared that she may have been injured while out and about or even committed suicide. Neighbour Aida Martins, who called police three months after she vanished, said: 'Officers came but said they couldn't force the front door open.'

But the mystery was finally solved after her flat, which had remained lifeless since she disappeared, was listed for auction earlier this year. The buyer, who has not been named, found Ms Martinho on the kitchen floor with her pet dog who had starved without her care. Emergency services arrived and identified the body as Ms Martinho who was on a register of missing people.