...2 YEARS after she died 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...ody14.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/14/ixhome.html
A woman's body has been found in her flat more than two years after she is believed to have died.
Joyce Vincent was found clutching a shopping bag and surrounded by Christmas presents she had wrapped but never delivered.
The television and heating were still on.
Her fridge was filled with food dated best before November 2003 and crockery lay in a dry washing-up bowl.
The 40-year-old woman's body was so decomposed that the only way to identify her was to compare dental records with a photograph of her smiling.
Police believe she probably died of natural causes but they were unable to carry out a proper examination.
An inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court was told that Miss Vincent died around Christmas 2003.
She was discovered last January after housing officials broke into her bedsit in Wood Green, north London.
The coroner was told that Miss Vincent had become estranged from her brother and sisters when she moved into a refuge for victims of domestic violence.
It is thought that she moved to the flat where she died without ever telling relatives about her new address.
Half of Miss Vincent's rent was paid to Metropolitan Housing Trust automatically by benefits agencies, leading officials to believe she was still alive. But over the two years, thousands of pounds in unpaid rent accrued and housing officials decided to repossess the property.
A locksmith drilled open the front door and found the remains of Miss Vincent in the living room.
Mickel Dobbs, Miss Vincent's neighbour for two years said he became suspicious after noticing a smell in the block.
Dr Simon Poole, a pathologist, told the inquest he had been unable to establish the cause of death because the remains were "largely skeletal", but police did not regard the circumstances as suspicious.
The coroner recorded an open verdict.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...ody14.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/14/ixhome.html
A woman's body has been found in her flat more than two years after she is believed to have died.
Joyce Vincent was found clutching a shopping bag and surrounded by Christmas presents she had wrapped but never delivered.
The television and heating were still on.
Her fridge was filled with food dated best before November 2003 and crockery lay in a dry washing-up bowl.
The 40-year-old woman's body was so decomposed that the only way to identify her was to compare dental records with a photograph of her smiling.
Police believe she probably died of natural causes but they were unable to carry out a proper examination.
An inquest at Hornsey Coroner's Court was told that Miss Vincent died around Christmas 2003.
She was discovered last January after housing officials broke into her bedsit in Wood Green, north London.
The coroner was told that Miss Vincent had become estranged from her brother and sisters when she moved into a refuge for victims of domestic violence.
It is thought that she moved to the flat where she died without ever telling relatives about her new address.
Half of Miss Vincent's rent was paid to Metropolitan Housing Trust automatically by benefits agencies, leading officials to believe she was still alive. But over the two years, thousands of pounds in unpaid rent accrued and housing officials decided to repossess the property.
A locksmith drilled open the front door and found the remains of Miss Vincent in the living room.
Mickel Dobbs, Miss Vincent's neighbour for two years said he became suspicious after noticing a smell in the block.
Dr Simon Poole, a pathologist, told the inquest he had been unable to establish the cause of death because the remains were "largely skeletal", but police did not regard the circumstances as suspicious.
The coroner recorded an open verdict.
