# Death of Hedviga Golik

Hedviga Golik (1924–1966) was a Croatian woman who died of unknown natural causes alone in her apartment. Her body remained undisturbed for forty-two years until it was discovered in May 2008.

## Life

Golik was a former nurse, originally from Rijeka, who lived in the Medveščak neighborhood of Zagreb, near Gupčeva zvijezda [hr] square. She resided in an 13-square meter one-room attic apartment, isolated from the lower floors of the four-storey building since 1961. Her last place of employment was at Trešnjevka's community health center. The flat was provided by the building's superintendent, who was formerly her boyfriend. She was known to have a sister, but they reportedly broke off contact due to quarreling.
Her neighbor Katica Carić described Golik as eccentric and prone to mood swings. She switched between being quiet and reclusive, never socialized with other tenants, and extremely belligerent and hectic, yelling at people for any reason and aimlessly running around the street. She often had angry outbursts even when she was helped and it was suspected that Golik was schizophrenic. Carić ran errands for her, such as buying groceries, but they never talked as Golik would simply hand her money and a written list, with the items to be dropped off on Golik's doorstep. Golik often left for extended periods, during which time she rented the apartment out to others.

## Death and speculation

In 1966, Golik prepared a cup of tea for herself and settled down to watch television in her apartment. At some point she died. She had told her neighbors that she would be leaving for an indeterminate amount of time, with it becoming rumour that she joined a sect in Macedonia.
Golik was reported missing a few months into 1972, but a search effort spanning across Yugoslavia was unsuccessful. No family ever came forward.
Apparently, the residents had noticed Golik's death as early as 1981, as a loan settlement was paid for by them. The death was not reported, however, as her neighbors argued over who would get ownership of Golik's apartment. Some had argued that the apartment was not owned by her to begin with, but the private dispute continued. In 1998, someone attached the following handwritten note, signed as "City of Zagreb, Census Commission" ("Grad Zagreb, Komisija za popis stanovništva") to the flat's front door:
   Na temelju Zakona o nasljeđivanju stanarka H. Golik ostala je bez vlasništva - nasljedništva. Do rješenja vlasničkih prava stanari ne mogu raspolagati stanom a svaki pokušaj raspolaganja je krivično djelo
   [Based on the law on inheritance for tenants, H. Golik was left without ownership - inheritance. Until the resolution of ownership rights, the tenants cannot take possession of the apartment and any attempt to claim it is a criminal offense.]
The true author was an anonymous resident, but the neighbors believed the message and ceased their attempts to lay claim to the abode.

## Discovery of body

In 2008, the building complex was to be renovated into condominiums with the agreement of residents. Only Golik had not responded to the request. Three representatives broke open the attic apartment's door on May 12, 2008 and discovered Golik's dead body sitting in the chair in front of her TV. Her teacup, which she had been sipping from, remained on a table next to her chair. Nothing in her home had been disturbed, though it was adorned with numerous cobwebs. The police removed her body from her apartment. An autopsy was unable to determine her cause of death, nor the exact time.
The time of death was initially believed to be in 1973. It's thought that the isolated position of the apartment allowed the decomposition to go unnoticed until mummification set in. The electricity was not turned off in the roughly 40 years since Golik's death. The bill was regularly paid by the original architect of the building, also residing in Zagreb, who died in 2005.

## Aftermath

Golik's body was buried the next day. Her story was picked up by several media outlets around the world.