A woman spent up to five years sleeping next to her brother’s rotting corpse in a rat-infested, rubbish-strewn house in an affluent suburb.
The woman, aged in her 70s, lived with the body in her public housing unit on Russell Street in Newtown in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne.
Newtown is considered an affluent neighborhood where the median home price currently sits at $1.1 million.
Police made the horrifying discovery after arresting the woman on December 29, 2022 for an unrelated matter.
Forensic officers in biohazard suits were forced to wade through trash, rats, dead possums and human feces from floor to ceiling to reach the “skeleton.”
The woman is believed to have been living with her brother’s body on Russell Street in Newtown in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne (pictured: police at the scene in 2022).
Forensic agents in biohazard suits waded through knee-high trash, human filth and rats to remove what remained of the man.
It is believed that the woman slept next to the body for between two and five years.
“What they pulled out was a bloody skeleton, not a body,” neighbor Nicole Stratton told the newspaper. Geelong Advertiser.
‘How can someone live with a dead body next to them for five years and not a single person knows about it?
“They have tried to sweep this under the rug. We have been living next to a house of horrors.
Residents along the tree-lined street complained to various government departments for years, however, their objections fell on deaf ears.
It is understood a Greater Geelong City Council staff member attempted to contact the tenant at least once before notifying DFFH.
The house is a 15-minute walk from GMHBA Stadium, home of the Geelong Football Club, and a stone’s throw from the busy cosmopolitan center of Pakington Street.
The man was last seen alive in 2018 by some of the residents living on the street.
The woman was a tenant of the Department of Families, Equity and Housing, raising questions about how the body could remain undiscovered for so long.
Stratton said he thought the accumulation of “absolute filth” might have helped mask the stench of the decomposing body.
“There was always a smell, but we thought it was the piles of garbage,” he said.
‘The blinds were always drawn and you could see the mold in the back.
The house of horrors has remained empty for more than a year following the grim discovery.
The house was full of garbage and human filth (pictured)
‘The garage was constantly full of rubbish. There were rats everywhere, it was honestly disgusting.’
She said a skeleton and “not a body” was removed from the site and that the stench attracted flies.
Stratton said her oldest daughter refuses to go out at night because she is still traumatized by the ordeal.
Victoria Police said they attended the property to conduct a welfare check on the man when his body was discovered.
A DFFH spokesperson said welfare checks had been carried out “since 2021” after complaints were made about the state of the property.
“This is a tragic incident,” he said.
“We send our deepest condolences to the man’s family and friends.”
The woman was released without charge in connection with the man’s death last year.
The coroner is still investigating the cause of death.
The property has remained vacant for more than a year.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the City of Greater Geelong and the DFFH for comment.