Human Remains Found in Derelict Home That Reportedly Had Decades-Old Food

Irish police have launched an investigation after the skeletal remains of a man were discovered in a house in County Cork.

The remains were found by two Cork County Council staff members who entered a home in Beecher's Street in Mallow at about 12 p.m. on Friday.

According to The Irish Times, the council staff arrived at the home after neighbors filed complaints about a rodent infestation.

The council workers subsequently notified Gardai (Irish police) that they had found skeletal remains in a bed inside the house, the publication reported.

An Irish police spokesperson said in a statement sent to Newsweek: "Gardaí continue to investigate all the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a body in a house in Mallow, Co. Cork at approximately 12 p.m. on Friday, 13th of January 2023.

"The scene has been preserved. Enquiries are ongoing."

Dr. Margaret Bolster, an assistant state pathologist, carried out a postmortem at Cork University Hospital on Saturday and confirmed there was nothing to suggest the man died as a result of foul play.

Police are now working to establish his identity and believe a container of butter with a 2001 expiry date could indicate the person had been dead for more than 20 years.

Gardaí have spoken to a local business owner who told investigators that the house was already boarded up when they arrived in the area in 2002, which also indicates that the man had been dead for many years.

According to The Irish Times, police will try to establish the identity of the deceased and will be working to establish when that person was last seen alive in Mallow.

The outlet reported police are also investigating whether the body belongs to a homeless person who managed to enter the property.

Sean Sherlock, Cork East Labour member for the Irish parliament, told The Irish Times it was "extremely distressing that somebody could be found dead in a derelict house and it's really sad to see in this day and age that people can die within our community and not be noticed or missed."

"In saying that though the community in Beecher Street are very closely knit and very much look out for each other and this has come as major shock to them but if the reports about this case are true, then the person in question may not have any close links in Mallow."

According to the Gardaí National Protective Services Bureau, there were 10,510 missing person reports in the Republic of Ireland in 2022. It added 58 people were still missing.

In comparison, in the U.S., which has an estimated population 56 times larger than Ireland, 600,000 people across the country go missing each year, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.