Study: Increasing number of people found deceased and decomposed in England and Wales

A study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK), has identified a worrying trend
in England and Wales: an increasing number of people are being found deceased and decomposed.

The study, which was led by Dr Lucinda Hiam of the University of Oxford, revealed a steady increase in “undefined deaths” (i.e., deaths of people found decomposed), between 1979 and 2020 for both sexes. The proportion of total male deaths exceeded female deaths, with these deaths increasing significantly among males during the 1990s and 2000s, when overall mortality was rapidly improving. This acceleration in deaths where people are found decomposed, particularly for men, is a concerning trend, the authors said.

“Many people would be shocked that someone can lie dead at home for days, weeks, or even longer, without anyone raising an alarm among the community they live in,” said Dr. Theodore Estrin-Serlui of Imperial College National Health Service Healthcare Trust. “The increase in people found dead and decomposed suggests wider societal breakdowns of both formal and informal social support networks even before the pandemic. They are concerning and warrant urgent further investigation.”

To conduct the study, the researchers analyzed data from the Office for National Statistics, identifying deaths where bodies were found in a state of decomposition. They used a novel proxy: deaths coded as R98 (“unattended death”) and R99 (“other ill-defined and unknown causes of mortality”), according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and previous versions, referred to as “undefined deaths.”

The authors of the study are calling on national and international authorities to consider measures that would make it possible to identify deaths where people are found decomposed more easily in routine data.

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Source: Decomposed and Forgotten: England’s Disturbing Trend in Unnoticed Deaths (SciTech Daily)

Reference: “A deathly silence: why has the number of people found decomposed in England and Wales been rising?” by Lucinda Hiam, Theodore Estrin-Serlui, Danny Dorling, Martin McKee and Jon Minton, 20 November 2023, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Denise Prudhomme - Tempe Arizona

Name & Age: Denise Prudhomme, 60

Location: Tempe, Arizona

Circumstances: Ms Prudhomme entered the Wells Fargo corporate office in Tempe, Arizona on the morning of August 16, but according to records, never exited. Her body was discovered by security four days later on August 20. 

 

The medical examiner's report indicated that Ms. Prudhomme suffered a sudden cardiac death and Tempe police reported no suspicion of foul play.

According to sources familiar with the deceased, Prudhomme worked in a section of the building that was typically less populated due to remote work arrangements.

The death of Ms. Prudhomme also prompted a call for enhanced safety precautions that would alleviate stress for employees. 

In a statement issued following the incident, Wells Fargo Workers United, the union representing Wells Fargo employees, criticized the company. The union noted the company "monitors [their] every move and keystroke using remote, electronic technologies ― purportedly to evaluate [employee] productivity. The contradictory nature of electronic surveillance versus an unnoticed death sheds light on the reality of what it means to be a worker at Wells Fargo." 

Notes: An anonymous worker shared their shock and was reported as saying, "It's really heartbreaking. 'What if I were just sitting there?' No one would check on me?" Another expressed distress over the incident, admitting that several people had noticed a "foul odor" but passed it off as "faulty plumbing."

 

May Ms Prudhomme rest in peace.

 

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Sources: 

 

Times of India, "Wells Fargo employee death: How did Denise Prudhomme's body go unnoticed for 4 days of ignored odors?" September 3, 2024.

Arizona Republic, "Cause of death released for Tempe Wells Fargo employee found dead in her office." October 25, 2024.

 

About Death Unnoticed

When I first heard the news about the Wells Fargo employee who died at her desk and went unnoticed for days, I had the same question as everyone else: How could this happen? Given its chilling details, the story stayed with me for a few days. During that time, I recalled another such incident from the late 1990s wherein a woman’s body was dumped in a ditch along the Washington, DC Beltway and went unnoticed for weeks, even though thousands of drivers passed by every day. So, I began to wonder: How often does this happen? Quite frequently, as it turns out. 

This blog aims to chronicle these incidents of death gone unnoticed, acknowledge the human lives lost, and remind us to check in on our loved ones — and maybe our casual acquaintances too. Is there a bit of morbid fascination here? Yes, I admit it. (Again, how could this happen?) Clearly, these stories are enthralling and salacious. At the same time, there’s also an undeniable memento mori aspect to these stories that deserves our attention. In the words of Charles Bukowski, “We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.” 

 

Perhaps this blog can change that ever so slightly.