Two years after her death, 70-year-old Italian woman Marinella Beretta has finally been found; her body sitting at a table in her home.
According to PEOPLE, Beretta lived by herself in her home in Prestino, Italy, near Lake Como. Police are currently investigating whether she has any living relatives, though as of now, none have come forward. Her remains were found by police when they made a house call because of safety concerns when a tree fell in her garden.
Her body has been described as “mummified.” CNN reports that the medical examiner determined she died around the end of 2019, “based on the extent of decomposition.”
She had not been seen by surrounding neighbors for at least two and a half years. Reports say that many had assumed she moved away when the COVID-19 pandemic first began.
Her cause of death is still currently unknown, but Italian authorities have found no evidence that foul play was involved.
Como Mayor Mario Landriscina has invited residents in the area to attend Beretta’s funeral.
“I will try to be there and I invite the city to be present,” Landriscina said, according to CNN “This is the moment to be together, and even if this woman had no relatives, we could become her relatives.”
Currently, her body remains in the morgue and a funeral date has not been scheduled.
On Facebook, Elena Bonetti, Italy’s minister for family and equal opportunities. shared her grief over Beretta’s solitary death.
“What happened to Marinella Beretta in Como, the forgotten loneliness, hurts our consciences,” she said. “Remembering her life is the duty of a community that wants to remain united.”
Beretta was “loneliness personified,” wrote the journalist Massimo Gramellini on the front page of Italy’s biggest selling daily paper, the Corriere Della Sera.
