A deeply unsettling and mysterious case has emerged in Larissa, central Greece, where the mummified remains of a 60-year-old woman were discovered inside a basement apartment. Her body was found on the floor of the unit in the Agios Konstantinos neighborhood — located on 28th October Street — following its recent sale. The discovery was made accidentally by police officers from the Larissa Police Department on the morning of August 19, after they were called to open the sealed property. The previous owner, who now lives in another city, had reportedly not entered the apartment for some time.
Discovery and Initial Investigation
The woman’s body was in an advanced state of natural mummification — a rare phenomenon in local forensic records. According to the Larissa Forensic Service, the cause of death appears to be medical or pathological, with no signs of violence. Preliminary estimates suggest she died at least one year ago, possibly even longer. Unusually, her remains showed no signs of decomposition or putrefaction — meaning no foul odor developed, which likely explains why the body went undetected for so long.
Next to her, investigators found a handbag containing personal items, including a police-issued identity card. Based on that document, authorities identified her as a woman originally from Thessaloniki who had lived earlier in another European country. Her life story remains unclear, with many details still unconfirmed. Forensic labs under Greece’s Hellenic Police Directorate of Criminal Investigations have collected biological samples for DNA analysis, and results are expected within the coming days. Until then, her remains are being held at the Larissa morgue.
Unanswered Questions
According to reports by the newspaper Eleftheria, the apartment’s former owner had contacted the woman months before her death over unpaid rent, urging her to vacate the premises. That exchange appears to have led him to believe the basement was empty — paving the way for its eventual sale. Authorities are now investigating why no one reported her missing and how such a prolonged absence went unnoticed. The case marks the first documented instance of natural mummification in forensic records from the Larissa region — a development attributed to specific environmental conditions inside the sealed, dry, and cool basement space.