Living with the dead: A case report and review of the literature

The discovery of human corpses in urban domestic settings does not constitute an unusual case in criminal casework. These scenarios can be very challenging to investigate since the uninformative evidences encountered also demand a multidisciplinary effort among several specialties in the forensic sciences field. The occurrence of this incident is usually accompanied by social isolation, which is an emblematic aspect of urban modern society. The elderly population is especially susceptible to being socially isolated, which is associated with higher mortality. We present a case report of an elderly woman who had been living with her husband's dead body, contributing to the scarce literature on the "Living with the Dead" phenomenon. The use of a multidisciplinary approach and the challenges that social isolation presents to forensic sciences and the contemporary society are discussed.