#Carl Tanzler

[morbidology]

This photograph shows the mummified body of Elena Hoyos. A radiologist named Carl Tanzler had become obsessed with her, and after she died, he stole her body from her grave. He attempted to preserve Elena's body through various means, including the use of chemicals, and even dressed her in clothing and applied makeup to maintain the appearance of life.

Carl Tanzler was born on February 8, 1903, in Dresden, Germany. He had a varied career, including work as an aviation engineer and later as a radiologist. In 1926, Tanzler emigrated to the United States, settling in Florida. His professional life, however, was overshadowed by his personal life and an obsession that would soon dominate headlines.

In 1931, Tanzler met Elena Hoyos, a young Cuban-American woman who was suffering from tuberculosis, a disease that was often fatal at the time. Elena, who was only 22 years old, became Tanzler's patient. Despite the fact that he was a radiologist and not a physician specializing in tuberculosis, Tanzler took a keen interest in her case.

Tanzler's fascination with Elena quickly evolved into an obsession. He reportedly believed that Elena was the reincarnation of a woman he had loved in his homeland. Tanzler began making extravagant and unprofessional attempts to cure her, including experimental treatments and visits to her home. His behavior was erratic, and his fixation on Hoyos grew stronger over time.

Elena Hoyos succumbed to tuberculosis in 1931, and her death was a devastating blow to her family. Tanzler, however, was unable to let go. He paid for Elena's funeral and removed her body from the grave just a few months later. Tanzler took the corpse to his home, where he engaged in macabre activities. He tried to preserve Elena's body using various methods, including chemicals, and dressed her in clothing while applying makeup to make her appear as though she were still alive.

Tanzler's grotesque actions eventually came to light in 1940 when Elena's family discovered the truth. They had been suspicious about the strange behaviour of the man who had been so involved with Elena's care. Tanzler was charged with the crime of abusing a corpse, but due to the statute of limitations, he was not prosecuted for the full extent of his actions.

Carl Tanzler's trial was highly publicized, but the charges against him were relatively minor. He was released on bond and eventually went on to live out his remaining years in relative obscurity. He continued to profess his love for Elena Hoyos until his death on July 3, 1952.

[kissaubleu]

“Human jealousy has robbed me of the body of my Elena, yet divine happiness is flowing through me for she has survived death. Forever and ever, she is with me.”

Left: Elena while she was alive. Middle: The preserved Elena on display as she was found. Right: Tanzler with Elena’s death mask.

Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos first met Carl Tanzler (also known as Count Carl von Cosel) at 21 years old while suffering from Tuberculosis. In an attempt to get closer to her, Tanzler convinced her and her family that he was a doctor and could help take care of Elena. During his time caring for her, he gave her numerous gifts and expressed his affections only to consistently find them unreciprocated. Unfortunately, about 18 months later Elena would pass from her illness.

After her death, Tanzler paid for an elaborate tomb to be built for her and would visit her corpse nightly to speak with her and inject her with formaldehyde. After 2 years of this behavior, he took her body home. Realizing just how decomposed Elena had become, he started trying to bring her back to her original state through a variety of methods: using wire to strengthen her skeleton, replacing her eyes with glass, covering her skin in wax and plaster, filling her insides with rags, creating a wig from her remaining hair, and applying perfumes to cover the smell. By the end of it all, she was more of a life sized doll than a corpse. A doll that Tanzler would spend 7 years treating as his wife. Despite this (while many articles state otherwise), the only evidence to suggest that he was involved with her sexually surfaced over 30 years after her autopsy in a statement given by two men, making the claim questionable at best.

His dream life could not continue forever though. Once he was caught with Elena’s corpse, she was taken away and buried in an unmarked grave to avoid further disturbances. After Tanzler’s criminal case was dismissed (due to the statute of limitations having expired for “wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization”) he would spend the rest of his life with Elena’s death mask, writing to and about her in his diary. Tanzler would not be found until 3 weeks after his passing, with nothing but the effigy of Elena to keep him company.

[horrorhistory123]

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Delve into the captivating world of true crime as we explore the stories of criminals who managed to escape the clutches of justice. From shocking murders to chilling acts of violence, these true crime stories will keep you on the edge of your seat. Join us on a journey through the darkest corners of human nature as we uncover the truth behind some of history's most notorious criminals.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

Short story: Elena

This piece of writing is inspired by the story of Carl Tanzler and Elena Milagro de Hoyos, which I feel takes on a new relevancy with the state of women's rights to bodily autonomy in Florida. If you're not familiar with what happened, I recommend reading Tanzler's Wikipedia page for context. CW for themes of necrophilia and sexual assault.

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She couldn’t feel the silk stitched over her atrophied muscles, patching her decaying skin together as it sloughed off her bones. The plaster encasing her face would have been heavy and suffocating, but her caving lungs had long been emptied, and therefore she did not have the luxury of struggling to breathe, the defiance the human brain so desperately employed when life was at stake. The taut pull of the wires holding her bones together like the limbs of a marionette, the sightless glass eyes set in their sockets like gemstones where her organic ones had long since rotted to nothing, the sickly odor of the perfumes condensing in a fog around her to keep the stench of decomposition at bay- she could not sense any of it, nor could she so much as gasp in terror as two hands felt along her caving hips, jutting out beneath the floral-print dress that concealed the maggoty caverns of festering flesh beneath bright springtime colors, vivid as the Key West sunset. 

She could not curse him when he sang to her at night, his amorous proclamations no doubt butchering the Spanish she’d grown up speaking. She could not repel his advances when his tongue slipped into her mouth, its tip feeling along the insides of her cheeks, stuffed with gauze to keep them from collapsing in on themselves. And she could not scream when he forced the tube underneath her skirt, between her stiff, cold legs, so that he could have his way with a woman who could not refuse him.

Perhaps it was for the best, then, that when he danced with her in time to a tinny waltz from the record player, swaying her dragging feet in the darkness of his house, she had no knowledge of what she had become, could not remember her miscarriage or the man she married or the tuberculosis that had only begun to devour her, leaving her carcass to the man tasked with curing it, so that he could pick her remains like carrion and lie in bed with her bones. 

When at last, after seven years, her sister chanced to look through the window and see them locked in that waltz, his head resting on her sagging shoulders, nose buried in the perfumed clumps of her hastily-replaced hair, a thousand impossible realities all collided together at once. That was the body- no, less than a body, a half-stitched, perfumed, putrefying mannequin- of the girl she’d grown up with, her sister she’d lost to the same disease that would soon take her life as well. Would she ever have known, when they were children, that this was where their futures would lead them? And after she’d alerted the authorities to recover it- no longer her, but it- her sister could not feel the relief of being taken out of that house, never to be touched by those hands again.

Nor could she feel the shame of being displayed in the funeral home like a dress in the window of a boutique.

 For seven years, it was his eyes and his alone that had feasted on her corpse; now, it was the eyes of thousands. They flocked around her like the flies that wormed into her many yawning crevices, gasping and pointing and cameras flashing. While alive, her beauty had turned heads; now, its grotesque mockery was twice as effective. She was fortunate she could not hear them sigh, muttering to themselves about that odd romantic, the eccentric but harmless doctor so desperate for love, even death could not wrench him from the embrace of his young Cuban sweetheart. It was a terrible shame, they said, that her body should be taken from him; after all, he’d gone through such touching care to ensure he could be with her forever. How sad, they sighed, shaking their heads, that the poor old man would never have another night to dance with her, to take her in his arms and kiss her and dress her and make her his own.

If she was granted one mercy, it was that she could not hear them.

[betty-cadaver]

The Death mask.

Dark obsession of Carl Tanzler.

Carl Tanzler was born in Germany, 1877. He married sometime around 1920 and went on to have 2 children. He later moved to America, joined soon after by his wife and children in Zephyrhills, Florida. Tanzler then left behind his family when he took up a job as a radiology technician at the Marine hospital in Key West, Florida. Throughout his life he went by a multitude of names but this is the one he’s most known by.

At some point when he was younger, during a time in Italy, he claimed to have been visited by the ghost of a relative who showed him the face of his one true love, an “exotic, dark haired woman.”

Maria Elena Milagro Hoyos (Elena) was a Cuban-American, Born 1909. She married in 1926, but after tragically suffering a miscarriage soon after, her husband left her and moved away to Miami, though at the time of her death the pair were still legally married. She was seen as something of a beauty by locals in Key west, Florida. She was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and would eventually succumb to it at the age of 22.

Carl Tanzler met Elena Hoyos in April, 1930 at the Marine Hospital in Key west, Florida after her mother had brought her in for an examination. Tanzler immediately recognized her from his visions in Italy and became infatuated.

Carl used his “self professed” medical knowledge to attempt to cure Elena using medicines and electronic methods, but nothing worked. He would often treat her at home, bringing with him gifts in an effort to gain her affection, going so far it was reported, to confess his love outright. There is no evidence to support that she reciprocated his feelings.

Sadly, Elena succumbed to her illness at home on Oct 21, 1931. Tanzler paid for her funeral and commissioned a mausoleum that was erected soon after. Tanzler held a key to the tomb, going so far as to have a telephone installed. He would visit the grave each night for 2 years and at some point during this time he was fired from his job.

Elenas body was taken from her grave one evening in 1933 by Carl Tanzler. He took the corpse to his home and began ritualistically repairing Elena’s ever decomposing body. Over the course of 7 years he would use piano wires to hold her bones together, stuff her chest cavity with rags and fabric to sustain its shape, place a wig upon her head as her hair fell out, replaced her eyes with glass ones, rebuilt her face with plaster of Paris and wax and silks soaked in wax to patch her decomposing skin. Suspicions rose when he was witnessed purchasing perfumes, which were used with disinfectants to stave of the smell of the rotting corpse, and women’s clothing despite living alone and it was reported he had been seen dancing with Elena by a window. He kept Elena in his bed and doted upon her body as he “repaired” and dressed her in jewellery and gowns like a well loved doll.

Word got around town about his suspicious behaviour and it was long before Elena’s sister caught wind of them. She paid Carl a visit and was taken aback by what she thought was a life sized doll, an effigy to her sister complete with death mask, but to her horror she soon discovered it was in fact her sisters corpse.

Carl was arrested for "wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization" in October 1940 but the case was dropped as the statute of limitations for the crime had expired.

Elena's body was examined by professionals and was put on public display at the Dean-Lopez Funeral Home, Elena's body was eventually laid to rest once again, her remains in a secret location.

Most shockingly during the examination of her body, it was discovered a vaginal tube had been inserted inside of her, leading to speculation that Tanzler had in fact committed to necrophilia with the corpse.

12 years later on July 3, 1952, Carl Tanzler passed away at home, found 3 weeks later on the floor. Close by to his body was a life sized effigy of his beloved, complete with Elena’s death mask.

[oopsididitagaaaain]

Where's Carl Tanzler

Tumblr ain't that fun without him

[sansterreurnivertu]

What does the beautiful Elena Hoyos have to do with a flat mannequin doll? Since she was going to be exposed in public later, Tanzler should have hired a sculptor.

But I think her death mask more closely resembles the photos before her death. If he made this one too, he must have had plenty of artistic skill.

[getosbf]

Yea about that... have u ever thought about donating your body to science haha jk,,, no not really ima need that body once you die for uhhh research purposes,,

[oswaldbaskerville27]

I was reading about Carl Tanzler earlier on how he became obsessed with a tuberculosis patient named Elena and when she died how he dug up her grave and kept her corpse and all I could think was this sounds like something Jack would do to Lacie in a weird alternate universe

[funeralfun2]

[morbidology]

Carl Tanzler, a radiologist residing in Key West, Florida, developed an intense infatuation with Elena Milagro Hoyos, one of his patients. Tragically, Elena succumbed to tuberculosis in 1931. Consumed by his obsession, Tanzler took extraordinary measures to preserve her memory. With the consent of Elena's parents, he commissioned a mausoleum to house her remains, convinced that it was preferable to her decomposing underground.

Night after night, Tanzler would visit Elena's tomb, unable to let go of his fixation. Eventually, his obsession took a disturbing turn when he decided to bring her body home with him. In his bed, he kept Elena's corpse, attempting to restore her decaying form by replacing her deteriorating skin with plaster. He adorned her with a new wardrobe and perfumes, meticulously maintaining the illusion of her existence.

The disturbing truth came to light in 1940 when one of Elena's sisters grew suspicious and confronted Tanzler at his residence. To her horror, she discovered Elena's decaying corpse lying in bed, dressed in an elegant gown. Tanzler's grotesque act of necrophilia had been exposed. Subsequently, he was arrested and charged with crimes such as wanton destruction of a grave and unauthorized removal of a body. However, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations on the charges, he was eventually released.

[loganpente]

I think hell is a rock band

Like having deep dived into Mutley Cruh and now diving back into the Beatles I can't get over the absolutely depressing existence of being in a rock band. Like there's something weirdly hellish to me about people like building up this made-up version of you and never letting you evolve beyond this thing they've made you into in their heads.

Like with the Beatles especially it's so fascinating how people have just come up with their own storyline. And they will talk over everyone including the band themselves to insist well they know better. They know better than the bandmates themselves what's best for them, who they should have married etc.,

It's like having what Carl Tanzler did to Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos done to you while still alive.

[diaryofasugarfiend]

Last night, I had a dream where I told Faust and Eliza about Carl Tanzler but I woke up before I could see their reaction.

[primiera]

georg carl tanzler, a slut for the rigour-mortussy

[orpheuslament]

Necro but not in the Carl Tanzler and Elena Hoyos way right.. Because what you said is basically what he convinced himself he was doing LOL.

why are you talking about a real life case . im talking about heathcliff digging up cathys grave so he can lay down w her one last time

[tvheadkafka]

you are waiting for him to reply back while carl tanzler removed Elena's corpse from it's tomb to live with it for seven years as a sign of obsessing over love.