She was said to be extremely beautiful, shy and an accomplished singer, to the point where tourists would ask for pictures with her in the street. He made house calls to Marias home, stealing the hospitals x-ray machine to monitor her progress. Mrs. C.S. 3 Feb. 2021, https://redcircle.com/shows/nightmerica. Tanzler (1947) tells of many arguments he had with Elenas parents about her condition, the Cuban culture of smoking cigars, having numerous visitors at the house and taking Elena for car rides. Carl Tanzler administered these treatments in Hoyos family home, showering her with gifts and declaring his love all the while. [9] Elena's body was eventually returned to the Key West Cemetery where the remains were buried in an unmarked grave, in a secret location, to prevent further tampering. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. It has been recounted that Tanzler was found in the arms of Elena's effigy upon discovery of his corpse, but his obituary reported that he died on the floor behind one of his organs. Tanzler added copious amounts of perfumes, flowers, disinfectants, and preserving agents to keep the rotting odor at bay, and routinely applied morticians wax to Hoyos face in an effort to keep her alive.. Carl Von Cosel had preserved her corpse for seven years. Despite everything, the statute of limitations had expired for the crime he was accused of committing, leaving Tanzler free to go. At sixteen, she was married to Luis Mesa (1908-?) He was proud of the excellent attention hed given to her preservation and thought mistakenly that Elenas sister would feel the same. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Elena's body was reclaimed and buried by the family in a secret location so that neither Von Cosel or the curious could disturb her grave. [1][8], One evening in April 1933, Tanzler crept through the cemetery where Elena was buried and removed her body from the mausoleum, carting it through the cemetery after dark on a toy wagon, and transported it to his home. They vow to stay together, even after death. Thrive MarketTry Thrive Market and become a member risk-free! It is through several key pieces of research he came across and our correspondence on these that inspired and made this article a possibility. The County Jail charged him of malicious and wanton disfigurement of a burial vault, yet the jurors found no law that he had broken. Elena was the daughter of local cigar maker Francisco "Pancho" Hoyos (18831934) and Aurora Milagro (18811940). Carl Von Cosel had preserved her corpse for seven years. Try again. But the curious began wondering why Von Cosel visited her night after night and when his visits stopped all assumed he had died. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. 22nd April 1930 would turn out to be a very fateful day. However, he became interested in engineering and electrical work there, bought property, boats, an organ, an island in the Pacificso that he was still in Australia at the end of ten years. [The magazine] has a story called Floridas Dr. Frankenstein and his Laboratory of Love. Marias family soon became puzzled when Carl stopped visiting her grave, but they just assumed that he had finally moved on. In spite of his best efforts, Cosel could not save Elena and she succumbed to the illness on October 25, 1931 and entombed in a family crypt. When this was ineffective, he contemplated relocating her remains to the stratosphere. Creepy, crawly Count Carl Von Cosel wasnt a count at all. They called him an eccentric romantic and felt sorry for his psychological disorder. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. You accept the use of cookies or other identifiers by accepting, ignoring or dismissing this notice. Why, you are old enough to be my grandfather. In 1930, Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the Marine Hospital in Key West. Now Ive found her, and Ill kill her, if necessary, to fulfil my destiny! (p. 68), There was this and another statement from Nana Medina in the Miami Herald where she told of how Tanzler had warned her father if there was not a wedding in the family soon, there would be a funeral. Suffer no more sweet Elena. Tanzler was psychiatrically examined and found mentally competent to stand trial on the charge of "wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization. He claimed she told him to take her away from the mausoleum. He also said he had nine university diplomas. Arriving authorities quickly determined that this doll was, in fact, Hoyos herself, and they arrested Tanzler for grave robbing. The mausoleum Carl had Elena laid to rest in. Carl Tanzler had the corpse wrapped in a dress, gloves, and jewelry, and placed the body in his own bed, which he shared with the corpse for the next seven years. However, the case was eventually dropped and Tanzler was released from prison because the statute of limitations for the committed crime had expired. While working at the U.S. Marine Hospital, on April 22, 1930, Carl Tanzler came face to face with the woman of his dreams. You can always change this later in your Account settings. It turns out that Carl Von Cosel was married with children the entire time. Later he was removed to Trial Bay to a castle-like prison on the cliffs, and there the work in this narrative was accomplished. Von Cosel. A local Cuban- American woman by the name of Maria Elena "Helen" Milagro de Hoyos was brought into the hospital by her mother for an examination. Journalists reported that the judge denied Von Cosels request, screaming at Von Cosel with disgust. Von Cosel was sixty years of age,and decided that they were to have their May-December romance. He was cradling Hoyos doll. Accounts show she led the normal life of a teenager in the 1920s. Over time, his patient learned to trust him, but Tanzler had other motives that a medical professional shouldnt have with their patient. Headlines like A Key West Story of Necrophilic Love, Undying Love, and A Grave Affair proliferated newspapers, immortalizing the infamous necrophile. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Maria was married at the age of 16 to a man named Luis Mesa, who abandoned her after she miscarried their child. According to Atlas Obscura, de Hoyos was then a 21-year-old Cuban native suffering from tuberculosis and came to the hospital for treatment. Learn about the chilling embalmed corpse of the blushing bride La Pascualita. He died in the arms of Hoyos real body. He also said that she would often tell him to take her from the grave. 28, 67 69, Sagers, A. Maria Elena Milagro De Hoyos Birth 31 Jul 1909. It has been reported that Tanzler somehow still switched the bodies, or that Hoyos remains were secretly returned to him. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Additionally, Hoyos was known as the beauty of Key West. [1][8], Despite Tanzler's best efforts, Elena died of tuberculosis at her parents' home in Key West on October 25, 1931. One even died from diphtheria whilst these events were unfolding (Harrison 1996, Sloan 2012). He recognized her from a vision he had many years ago, when his dead ancestor Countess Anna Constantia von Brockdorff came to him in a dream and showed him the face of his true love and soulmate: a gorgeous dark-haired woman who looked exactly like Maria. After Von Cosel's arrest, Key West put Elena's body on exhibit. Separated from his obsession, Tanzler used a death mask to create a life-sized effigy of Elena, and lived with it until his death at age 75 on July 3, 1952. However, the judge decreed that Tanzler should no longer have possession of Elenas remains (in spite of Tanzlers insistence that she should be returned to him). Nevertheless, Elena refused Carl Von Cosels proposal. 7 9, 54 61. Historically, the Cosel family seemed to be haunted by bad luck. Before she died, Carl wrote in his journal how he had hopes that, despite the extensive damage, the lesions would heal again. Her mother was worried about her declining health, but neither of them probably thought Tanzler would take an interest in her. This time, it was unmarked so no one, including Tanzler, could find her body. A psychiatric evaluation of Tanzler stated that he was in a borderline state but otherwise sane and mentally competent (Meek 2017). I have sent you to the angels with my golden elixir Perez also claimed Tanzler had once told him that he 'would kill Elena if necessary to fulfil [his] destiny'[12] The poison confession letter article was also cited by historian David L. Sloan on episode 44 of the NightMerica podcast.[14]. [1][8] Tanzler showered Elena with gifts of jewelry and clothing, and allegedly professed his love to her, but no evidence has surfaced to show that any of his affection was reciprocated by Elena. Tanzler became enamored with her, and took an overly keen interest in her care, despite not having any idea on how to treat tuberculosis. Are you visiting Key West? He even installed a telephone line to Elenas crypt so that he could continue speaking to her. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. While Elena was undergoing agonizing death, Von Cosel supplied her with perfume, jewelry, fruits, and candies. To many bystanders, this would seem romantic, but nobody knew he had a key to her tomb and that he was secretly preserving her corpse. Born in Key West in 1909, the daughter of a cigar maker and a homemaker, Hoyos was raised in a large family and was brought to the hospital by her mother after becoming ill. As a young boy in Germany, Tanzler would often have visions of a stunning, dark-haired woman who was predestined to be his one true love. That's when things took a turn for the macabre. 1982, pp. According to Michelfelder (1982), Tanzler signed the cause on Elenas death certificate as [expiration] from a series of violent seizures clinically associated with dormant epilepsy (p.9). Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. cemeteries found in Key West, Monroe County, Florida, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Word caught on that Carl Von Cosel was acting erratically, so Elenas sister decided to investigate. It motivated many of his actions from the day he met her to the day he died; giving her free and unproven medical treatments, naming his wingless plane after her, building the mausoleum, taking her body, trying to reconstruct and restore it to life, even using the tube for intercourse as Dr. DePoo revealed (a sexual payoff), publishing a memoir, being found dead with a wax replica. Strong words from a man who was already technically rejected by Maria several times. [1], On April 22, 1930, while working at the Marine Hospital in Key West, Tanzler met Maria Elena "Helen" Milagro de Hoyos (19091931), a local Cuban-American woman who had been brought to the hospital by her mother for an examination. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Even though you start off the story, just as all others have recounted, as being fact. Carl Tanzler actually received quite a bit of compassion during his trial, with some even viewing him as a hopeless albeit eccentric romantic. I mixed the root of wolfsbane (monkshood) with aconite diluted. Elena remained with Carl Von Cosel for seven years. Carl died alone in 1952, at the age of 75. It is a great shame that someone of such beauty and character be made endure the travesties she went through in her brief life and even after it ended. He even exaggerated his achievements to her parents, claiming he was Count von Cosel (even though he wasnt a count). (Yes, to a real, live, breathing woman.). In 1944, Tanzler moved to Pasco County, Florida, close to Zephyrhills, where he wrote an autobiography that appeared in the pulp publication, Fantastic Adventures, in 1947. The disease would later claim the lives of almost everyone in Hoyos immediate family, including her sister, Florinda Nana Milagro Hoyos. This all seems like silly speculation, to get people to read an old story. The jig was up, and authorities confiscated the corpse. The following "Editorial Note" accompanying the autobiographical account "The Trial Bay Organ: A Product of Wit and Ingenuity" by "Carl von Cosel" in the Rosicrucian Digest[3] of March and April 1939, gives details about his stay in Australia before his internment during the Great War, as well as his subsequent return to Germany after the War:[4][5]. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It was told back then and is still revered now as a love story, even with the more sinister evidence of necrophilia that came out after Tanzlers death. The story, just as all others have recounted, as being.... Cosel for seven years still switched the bodies, or that Hoyos remains were secretly returned him! 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