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The Strange Obsession of Dr. Carl Von Cosel
In 1934, Dr. Carl Von Cosel (seen left) worked at a Key West hospital, treating patients suffering from then-incurable tuberculosis. He fell in love with a 22-year-old patient named Elena Hoyos (seen below). When she died, Von Cosel got permission from her family to build her a mausoleum. There, Von Cosel used formaldehyde to preserve the body, visiting it nightly.
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Later, Von Cosel secretly moved Elena's body to his home, living with it for seven years, until his deception was uncovered by Elena's sister. Horrified at the discovery, Elena's sister took what appeared be a wax dummy to the local morgue to be autopsied. The "dummy" was actually the decayed corpse of Elena Hoyos (seen below); her bones held together with piano wire, her skin had been treated with wax, her eye sockets filled with glass replacements, and she'd been perfumed to mask the odor of decomposition.
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Declared sane, Von Cosel was not charged with a crime because the statute of limitations on grave robbing had expired. Elena Hoyos was eventually buried at a secret location. Von Cosel, separated from his love, used a death mask to create a life-sized dummy of her, and lived with it until his death in 1952.
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