Valencia man found living with father's mummified body for seven months

The Guardia Civil is investigating Antonio U., 58, known locally as Toni, on suspicion of abandoning a vulnerable person and committing fraud against Spain's Social Security system. Investigators suspect he concealed his father's death in order to continue receiving the 94-year-old's monthly pension.

Antonio was arrested on Monday after his father's body was discovered inside the property. He appeared before a judge at the Court of Instance in Llíria on Wednesday and was released under precautionary measures, including a requirement to report to the court regularly while the investigation continues.

The case will eventually be handled by another judge at the same court, who will oversee the investigation, coordinate further forensic evidence and question witnesses and banks.

With Antonio now free pending further inquiries, Guardia Civil officers are focused on establishing whether the lack of care he provided was the direct cause of his father's death, alongside their separate examination of his bank account to establish how much money he may have received unlawfully since the death.

The discovery was made after another son of the 94-year-old visited the country house to check on his father. Neighbours had not seen the elderly man there for months.

Toni told his brother that their father had died earlier this year and that his body had remained hidden in one of the rooms. The brother, who lives in Japan and was on holiday in Spain, suffered an anxiety attack before leaving and contacting a niece in Italy. She alerted the local police in Vilamarxant on Monday morning.

Local police officers went to the property, but Antonio was either absent or did not open the door. They returned several hours later with two Guardia Civil officers and entered the house.

They found the elderly man's body lying on a bed in an advanced state of mummification. The openings of the room had been carefully sealed with insulating tape, apparently in an attempt to prevent smells from escaping and to isolate the room from the rest of the property.

The Guardia Civil's Judicial Police team in Llíria took charge of the investigation and examined the property with a forensic doctor. The body was then taken to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Valencia, where an autopsy was carried out the following day.

"There were several officers in white suits outside the door, and at about eleven at night they brought the body out and put it in a van. We thought it was Toni who'd died. We didn't know his father was living there too," a neighbour said.

Preliminary forensic findings have found no signs of violence or evidence of a criminal death. Investigators therefore believe the elderly man probably died of natural causes. Based on the condition of the body, the death is thought to have occurred between January and February this year.

Antonio was arrested at around 7.30pm on Monday while drinking a beer on the terrace of a bar. Investigators are now examining whether he deliberately concealed his father's death so he could continue collecting the pension for a further seven or eight months.