Mummified body found in front of blaring TVMon Feb 19, 2007 9:19 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Police called to a Long Island man's house discovered the mummified remains of the resident, dead for more than a year, sitting in front of a blaring television set.
The 70-year-old Hampton Bays, New York, resident, identified as Vincenzo Ricardo, appeared to have died of natural causes. Police said Saturday his body was discovered Thursday when they were called to the house over a burst water pipe.
"You could see his face. He still had hair on his head," Newsday quoted morgue assistant Jeff Bacchus as saying. The home's low humidity had preserved the body.
Officials could not explain why the electricity had not been turned off, considering Ricardo had not been heard from since December 2005.
Neighbors said when they had not seen Ricardo, who was diabetic and had been blind for years, they assumed he was in the hospital or a long-term care facility.
The Altamonte Springs, Florida man, dubbed Seminole County's "Annoying Neighbor," has been sentenced to spend three years in jail for his junk cluttered yard and violation of probation from an earlier junk felony conviction. Alan Davis's yard on Alpine Street -- where he'd accumulated more than a decade's worth of trash, scrap parts and old cars -- might have been declared a folk art treasure elsewhere in America. But neighbors regarded it as an unsightly pile designed to drive them crazy, and the judge agreed. He was fined over $200,000 for continuing littering and nuisance violations, and the legal battle continued, with Davis ultimately serving time in prison. Davis transported his giant butt sculpture to court at one point, so it's hard to understand why the judge wasn't more lenient... [01/31/2005]