Son Kept Father's Body in Fridge Because "He Wanted to Talk to Him"

Police in the Netherlands found the body of an elderly man who had been missing for 25 years in a freezer at his son's home.  The 82-year-old son told Dutch broadcaster L1 that his father died a year and a half ago at the age of 101. "I didn't want to lose him. I would miss him," the man said.

He told the news outlet kept his father in the freezer so that he could "talk to him." Read on to find out what the authorities said and what potential consequences await the man.  

Police found the body in a freezer at a home in Landgraaf, Limburg. They responded to the house after the son's primary care doctor called them with concerns about his well-being, L1 reported. Police are investigating how long the body has been in the freezer; they don't suspect the son of killing his father, merely of hiding the body.

They said only that the victim died of natural causes and that the other resident of the house was considered a suspect but hadn't been arrested. 

"We are currently investigating this person's death and why the remains were placed in a freezer. In the interest of the investigation, we are not making any statements about the relationship between the residents of the building at this time," authorities said. "We want to know how long that man had been there and why."

According to the Dutch news outlet AD, several scenarios are being investigated, including potential fraud involving the dead man's pension. The 82-year-old son has owned the house since 1967. If convicted of concealing a body, he could face up to two years in prison or a significant fine.

A neighbor told AD he hadn't seen the father in 25 years. "And on Saturday suddenly four or five police cars were here, with a hearse," he said, adding that he last spoke with the son a week and a half ago. "He didn't look well the last time I spoke to him," said the neighbor.

According to the neighbor, the suspect's wife died in 1997, and he has a daughter. L1 reported that officials visited the house and found it unhygienic; the owner has been given a week to clean it up.

In February, police said a Texas man stored his mother's body in the living room of their home for weeks after she died. A friend of the woman had called the police, concerned she hadn't seen her for some time. Her son Douglas Dean Kilburn, 49, said she had left the area.

A suspicious deputy continued to investigate, and Kilburn admitted she had died about three weeks earlier, and he kept her in the home so he could continue to visit her. Kilburn was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse and jailed on a $50,000 bond. 

And in February 2021, police in Logansport, Indiana, discovered that a woman didn't report her mother's death and lived with the corpse because she "didn't want to be alone," investigators said. She also admitted to taking $3,000 from her mother's checking account. 

The body of Cynthia Newman, 65, was found in a reclining chair, covered in blankets, KIRO reported. Her daughter and son-in-law were arrested and charged with failure to report human remains.