We all want to be loved and to love others, but there comes a point when our actions can be construed as creepy or over the top. The following is a story of a man named Carl Von Cosel in Key West, Florida who went above and beyond, in a creepy way, to demonstrate his love for a deceased woman who never returned the love back prior to her death.

Carl Von Cosel was a x-ray technician in Key West and had a patient by the name of Elena Hoyos. Elena was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the 1920s and during this time period, tuberculosis was incurable and eventually led to her death. But prior to her death, Von Cosel did everything he could to wow this beautiful, young lady. Elena’s previous husband had left her after her diagnosis. Von Cosel wanted to prove to her that men were not all disrespectful, so Von Cosel attempted to gain her love – which Elena never returned- by attempting to cure her through radiation therapy and other methods while at the same time visiting her and caring for her as much as he could. But in 1931, Elena finally succumbed to her illness. All the effort Von Cosel put in to gaining her love and eventually marrying her never were achieved. Following her death, Von Cosel received permission from Elena’s parents to pay for her burial and tombstone.

To many, these previous actions may have been signs of true love by Von Cosel, but here is where the story goes over the top.

Von Cosel later provided more money to have Elena’s body exhumed and placed in a mausoleum instead – to better preserve her body. Von Cosel visited her nightly and Elena’s family was aware of this and thought nothing of it because it showed he cared for her. But by 1933, Von Cosel had taken her body home.

Von Cosel undressed Elena’s decomposed body and replaced the dress she was buried in with a newer, more fitting dress. He started preparing her body. He placed a glass eye into her skull and did other things to make her prettier, in his eyes. Furthermore, Von Cosel would spend his days talking to Elena’s body, cooking her food, and, get this, having sexual interactions with her body. It was not until after 7 years, that Elena’s sister realized something was wrong because she had not seen Von Cosel visit her grave in that time span. So Elena’s sister visited her grave and to her surprise saw that her body was no longer in the mausoleum. She knew only one person who may have committed such a crime: Carl Von Cosel. So she visited Von Cosel’s home and found her deceased sister in his home. She contacted the police and Von Cosel was arrested and he went on trial.

More information can be found about Carl Von Cosel and his unorthodox approach to love through the following:

Book : Undying Love

Podcast: This American Life – Grand Gesture