Joyce Carol Vincent Death – Joyce Carol Vincent (19 October 1965 – December 2003) was an English woman whose death went unnoticed for more than two years as her corpse lay undiscovered at her bedsit in north London.
On 25 January 2006, officials from a north London housing association repossessing a bedsit in Wood Green owing to rent arrears made a grim discovery.
Lying on the sofa was the skeleton of a 38-year-old woman who had been dead for almost three years.
In a corner of the room the television set was still on, tuned to BBC1, and a small pile of unopened Christmas presents lay on the floor.
Washing up was heaped in the kitchen sink and a mountain of post lay behind the front door. Food in the refrigerator was marked with 2003 expiry dates.
The dead woman’s body was so badly decomposed it could only be identified by comparing dental records with an old holiday photograph of her smiling.
Her name was revealed to be Joyce Carol Vincent.
News of Joyce’s death quickly made it into the global media.
Joyce Carol Vincent was a 38-year-old woman in London with a family and friends.
So why did it take over two years for people to realize she had died?
Neighbors didn’t really know her, thus didn’t really notice her absence.
The only detectable thing was a bad smell, which they attributed to garbage bins below the apartment.
Vincent was found on the floor, clutching a shopping bag.
Because her remains were mostly skeletal, she was only able to be identified through dental records.
It also had been too long to determine a cause of death, though police suggested she died of natural causes after a criminal investigation ruled out any foul play.
Vincent reportedly had asthma and it’s been speculated that she may have had an attack.
With a cause of death essentially placed, only one question remained: how could someone be dead for two years and no one notices?
Not that anyone deserves to die and go unnoticed for several years, but it was particularly strange that nobody seemed to know Joyce Vincent had passed away.
She was 38 years old, she worked for most of her life, she had family and friends, and wasn’t known to be on drugs or in any legal trouble.
