# 90yo woman found living with bodies of three siblings
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 8, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836 "2008-11-08T19:53:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/1 "2008-11-08T19:53:33Z")
Okay, this story’s just plain weird:
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap\_on\_re\_us/evanston\_deaths;\_ylt=AqnmW9k5XoiTh1D.Hu2x0XPLLJ94](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_on_re_us/evanston_deaths;_ylt=AqnmW9k5XoiTh1D.Hu2x0XPLLJ94)
> [@news article](#):
>
> A 90-year-old woman well-liked by her neighbors apparently has been living in a house with the bodies of three siblings, one of whom may have been dead since the early 1980s, police say. […]
>
> Autopsies were planned but Guenther said police do not suspect foul play. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said it could be some time before causes of death can be determined because the deaths occurred so long ago.
>
> Neighbors described the woman as alert and aware, and said she was well liked on their close-knit block of large, historic homes. She enjoyed gardening and shared her plants with others, they said.
There’s an older woman in my neighborhood who’s happy & friendly and enjoys gardening, just like this woman. But she’s never invited me into her apartment. Hmm…
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/2 "2008-11-08T19:59:05Z")
> [@](#):
>
> She enjoyed gardening…
All of this uproar could have been avoided if she’d been more into composting.
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### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/3 "2008-11-08T21:23:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> …the bodies of three siblings…
>
> …Her identity was not released…
>
> …The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office identified the dead as Anita Bernstorff, who was last seen alive in May 2008, Frank Bernstorff, not seen alive since 2003, and Elaine Bernstorff, who was last seen alive in the early 1980s.
Unless the three siblings aren’t HER siblings, I think she’d be pretty easy to identify!
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### Author:  [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/4 "2008-11-08T22:32:46Z")
Family tradition, apparently - since presumably three of them lived with Elaine’s body for 10 years, and then Anita and ?? kept Frank for an additional five years.
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### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/5 "2008-11-08T22:34:29Z")
I was wondering that too, unless she found a way to lure them there shortly before their deaths, or to bring them there shortly thereafter.
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/6 "2008-11-09T01:48:13Z")
it does keep down funeral costs…
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/7 "2008-11-09T02:07:07Z")
I’ve said it all along, this is why old people smell funny. Because they live with decomposing corpses.
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2008, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/8 "2008-11-09T07:09:59Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> All of this uproar could have been avoided if she’d been more into composting.
Who else is happy they weren’t drinking something when they read this?!
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### Author:  [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2008, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90yo-woman-found-living-with-bodies-of-three-siblings/471836/9 "2008-11-09T07:23:30Z")
> [@Usram](#):
>
> I’ve said it all along, this is why old people smell funny. Because they live with decomposing corpses.
And don’t forget that old people are the living dead.