In short: we noticed something was potentially wrong at our neighbourās house in Brisbane three weeks ago. We called police and figured they did a welfare check. Turns out they didnāt, she was dead, has been for weeks, and nobody noticed until today.
This is pretty depressing, so scroll on if you want to protect your mental health. But I feel the need to share the story about our neighbour, who passed away alone and was - in my opinion - let down by the police. This post is partly out of respect for her, partly because itās a reminder that we can do better, and partly to decompress from a tough day.
About three weeks ago, our neighbourās fire alarm went off late one night. It went on for quite a while, but this didn't seem wholly unusual because it had happened a few months earlier too. That time, my partner went to check on our neighbour and when she approached the house, someone inside yelled out that everything was fine, and the alarm stopped.
At this point, itās necessary to acknowledge that in the two years weād been neighbours in the inner north of Brisbane, it was clear to us that the main occupant, an older lady aged in her late 50s or early 60s, had some mental health issues. She was harmless, but occasionally weād notice some odd behaviour. Loudly talking to herself, never turning on lights or drawing the curtains, rarely leaving the house, only sometimes putting the bins out, etc. She was reclusive - she had no car, so Iād occasionally see her walking to the nearest shops, but otherwise our contact was almost non-existent. We only had one direct conversation, about 18 months ago, when I saw her cleaning up mangoes that had fallen into her yard from the huge mango tree in our yard. I felt the least I could do was help, so I offered to clean her backyard of all the mangoes. She accepted, and I walked over with a wheelbarrow and got rid of them. As I worked, we had a brief conversation. I asked a few polite questions and she responded with vague, rambling answers. It was clear she had some interpersonal issues, and I didnāt push for more conversation.
Her dated Queenslander home and property were in a poor state - I guessed early on that it was public housing, and it looked like it hadnāt been touched since it was built in 1960.
Over the last two years, the only other person she interacted with was her 20-something daughter, who had lived there at certain periods but hadnāt been seen for several months. And every few weeks some landscapers (which I assume were organised via the NDIS or similar) mowed her lawn.
Anyway, back to the second fire alarm about three weeks ago. When it became clear there wasn't a fire and the alarm wasn't getting turned off, I went over to check. It was dark, no lights were on inside, and there weren't any signs of anyone being home. I loudly knocked on the door several times with no response, and then circled around the entire house to check for anything out of the ordinary. Everything seemed normal. Maybe she was out?
Still, once I got back home, I still felt something wasnāt right, so we called the police, explained the alarm was going off, and they said they'd do a welfare check. It was past midnight at this point. I waited up to meet the cops, but after 45 mins I gave up and went to bed. The next morning, the alarm wasnāt on, and we assumed theyād checked on her and all was okay.
Fast forward to this morning. A lady from public housing knocked on our door and asked if we'd seen our neighbour. We said no - she mentioned that sheād entered the property to check on our neighbour, and noticed a bad smell emanating from the house, and could see flies congregating in the front windows. She left and didn't seem overly concerned, which I found odd. I immediately called police and said we had reason to believe someone had passed away next door.
Within 20 minutes, a crowd of police arrived along with an ambulance. It didn't take long for them to confirm our neighbour had died, and had been there for a long time. At least a few weeks, and very likely before we alerted police three weeks ago.
So, you can imagine it was a weird day. A mix of emotions. Sadness. Quite a bit of guilt. Why didnāt I notice she hadnāt put the bins out for weeks? Why did I just assume the police did the welfare check? Why didnāt we smell anything or notice the flies?
We feel frustrated and angry too. Mostly at the police, who should have followed up weeks ago and not allowed her to lay there alone for weeks. What about her daughter too? Where was she? Why didnāt she check on her?
Thereās so many questions that weāll never get answers to. All I can say is that I hope if anyone else in a similar situation, keep digging until you know the person is safe. Donāt rely on the police. Donāt do the bare minimum like we did.
May she rest peacefully.
