Hedviga Golik died inside her apartment in Zagreb, Croatia in the 1960s — but her mummified remains weren't discovered until 2008.
FacebookA purported photo of Hedviga Golik, the Croatian nurse whose body went unnoticed for more than 40 years.
In 2008, a woman named Hedviga Golik was found dead in her apartment in Zagreb, Croatia. But Golik’s death was especially unusual — she had died in the 1960s, and no one had noticed for more than 40 years.
Her mummified remains sat wrapped in blankets on her bed, next to her television. Nearby, a cup of tea was collecting dust right where she had presumably set it down before her death.
To many investigators, the death of Hedviga Golik presented a head-scratching mystery. What had happened to the reclusive nurse in her final moments? And how come no one had noticed her body for 42 years?
The Mysterious Life Of Hedviga Golik
Not much is known about Hedviga Golik’s early life. According to Croatian media, she was from the city of Rijeka (though when she was born in 1924 it was part of Fiume, Italy).
As an adult, she worked as a nurse at the Trešnjevka Health Center in Zagreb (then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and lived in a one-room attic apartment at Medveščak Street 77.
Wikimedia CommonsHedviga Golik lived and died in Zagreb.
Another Croatian news site reports that the apartment had been left to Golik by a former boyfriend who, in turn, had received it as payment for helping to build the property.
Hedviga Golik moved into the apartment by 1961. It’s unknown what happened between her and her boyfriend, but she seemingly lived alone. Golik also seemed to be estranged from her family, as she and her sister had allegedly had a falling out and stopped talking.
But Hedviga Golik did leave an impression on her neighbors.
The Reclusive Shouting Neighbor Of Medveščak Street 77
Though Hedviga Golik lived in an attic apartment, somewhat separated from her neighbors, many of those living in the four-story building knew of her. Some described her as reclusive; others said she was volatile. The other residents of Medveščak Street 77 remembered that Golik could be prone to shouting, and that she was once seen running down the street. Because of her erratic behavior, some people thought she could be schizophrenic.
One of Golik’s neighbors, Katica Carić, later recalled to Croatian media that Golik rarely left her apartment. Instead, she would “drop me a bag with money and a piece of paper saying what she needed from the store.”
Rather than hand Golik her items in person, however, Carić placed them in a bucket, which Golik could pull up to her unit with a rope. As such, Golik’s neighbors rarely saw her.
Suradnik13/Wikimedia CommonsA view of Medveščak Street in Zagreb, where Hedviga Golik lived in an attic apartment.
By the 1960s, many people at Medveščak Street 77 had the impression that Golik was planning to move. Some had heard that she was a Jehovah’s Witness, and a rumor spread that Golik planned to join a sect.
She was last seen in 1966. In 1973, someone notified the police of her disappearance. But no one would know what had become of Hedviga Golik until decades later.
The Discovery Of Hedviga Golik’s Body
Over the next four decades, Europe transformed. In 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. But the attic apartment at Medveščak Street 77 remained undisturbed.
Until May 2008.
At that point, the apartment building was being transformed into condominiums. To solve the mystery of the attic apartment, three representatives finally broke down Hedviga Golik’s door.
To their horror, they found her body inside. Golik was in bed, wrapped in blankets in front of her television, with a dried out mug of tea beside her. She had seemingly sat down with her tea to watch TV — and died.
But why had no one noticed?
Jutarnji.hrHedviga Golik’s apartment door after the discovery of her body.
Normally, a dead body would smell for several months. But if Golik had died in the winter, the smell of decay may have been less intense — especially if the windows were open, which Golik’s were.
What’s more, the tenants of her building had been discouraged from entering her apartment by a sign posted on her door: “Based on the Law on Inheritance of Tenants, H. Golik was left without ownership – inheritance. Until the resolution of ownership rights, the tenants cannot dispose of the apartment and any attempt to dispose of it is a criminal offense.”
However, the sign had only been posted in 1998, and it was likely not an official notice, but a result of a larger dispute among the tenants.
As for Golik’s electricity bills? Croatian media reported that they had been paid by a man in Zagreb, the original architect of the building, who had died three months earlier.
Indeed, the prevailing wisdom is that Hedviga Golik died of natural causes sometime around 1966. That said, investigators were never able to determine a cause of death. The only clear thing about the case was that Golik’s death had gone unnoticed for decades. As the years passed, and then the decades, her cobweb-riddled apartment became frozen in time like a tomb.
The Sad Legacy Of Hedviga Golik
Today, no one knows how exactly Hedviga Golik died. But the greater mystery is how her body went unnoticed for more than 40 years.
Ultimately, it seems that Golik was a lonely woman who lived a solitary life. Reclusive, erratic, and estranged from her family, her entire existence was contained in a tiny attic apartment. She lived there; she died there. In the bustling metropolis of Zagreb, no one noticed the absence of one woman.
Francisco Anzola/Wikimedia CommonsIn the bustling metropolis of Zagreb, Hedviga Golik’s death went unnoticed.
Indeed, her story sparked international headlines, prompting many to ask, “How could someone die in a city apartment building and remain undiscovered for decades?” Golik’s story seems to say a lot about how some people can live isolated lives, and how, amid the decaying social fabrics of present-day society, some people can simply slip through the cracks.
While theories have spread online that Golik’s death was connected to a greed-driven conspiracy by her neighbors or even a perfect murder, perhaps the truth is the most frightening of all. Perhaps Hedviga Golik’s body went unnoticed for more than 40 years out of pure, cold indifference.
After reading about Hedviga Golik, the woman whose body went unnoticed in her apartment for more than four decades, discover the eerie story of Rosalia Lombardo, the “blinking” mummy of Palermo. Or, learn about the screaming mummies of Guanajuato, whose faces seem contorted in agony.
