In a tale that could be lifted straight from a horror novel, a man unearthed the remains of a woman and cohabited with her body for seven years while striving to make her appear “alive”.
This is the story of Carl Tanzler, a radiology technician who turned into a grave-robber.
In 1930, at the age of 53, Tanzler was employed as a radiologist in Florida when he first met Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos. Maria, in her early 20s, sought Tanzler’s help for her tuberculosis treatment.
While Maria did not reciprocate Tanzler’s feelings, he became increasingly obsessed with her, showering her with gifts and attempting to cure her illness.
After Maria passed away in 1931, Tanzler commissioned a mausoleum for her in Key West Cemetery and spent the next two years visiting it every evening.
In April 1933, Tanzler decided he could not continue returning home alone.
He exhumed Maria’s remains and took them home, where he transformed her body into a doll-like figure.
Tanzler reportedly wired Maria’s limbs together and stuffed rags into her torso to make it appear fuller, as if she were alive.
He substituted her eyes with glass ones, fashioned a wig from her fallen hair, and wrapped her limbs in silk soaked in wax and plaster.
Envisioning the gruesome scene might be difficult, but Tanzler seemed content with his creation and lived with Maria’s body for seven years.
In 1940, the authorities and Maria’s family discovered the truth about her body after a passerby spotted Tanzler with Maria’s remains through his window.
Upon discovery, Tanzler was arrested and Maria’s body was confiscated.
During a court appearance, Maria’s sister remarked: “It was the most grotesque thing I have ever seen in my life.”
Tanzler was charged with “wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization,” but the statute of limitations had expired by the time of his arrest.
Maria’s remains were finally reinterred in an unmarked grave at Key West Cemetery. Tanzler, however, reportedly could not let go and created a life-sized effigy of Maria, which he lived with until his own death in 1952.