Florida Man Loves Mummy Wife

Man kept Lady love close to him, even after she died.

Photo Carl Tanzler

Keeping a mummy in the house must have had some benefits at one point in time. Dorian Corey is said to have shot her boyfriend and wrapped his body in plastic and leather to preserve the body. The mummy was not discovered until after she died.

Maybe she got the idea to do that from Carl Tanzler. He was a German immigrant who lived in Key West, Florida in the early 1930s. Despite being married, he found himself having feelings for a younger woman.

In Sickness

Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos was ill when she met Tanzler. She was fighting tuberculosis and losing the battle. When Tanzler offered to help her, it was with great enthusiasm that she agreed.

Tanzler set up an X-Ray machine in parents house. Every day he would create new concoctions, each one with the promise that it would save the young woman’s life.

None of them worked. At the tender age of 21, de Hoyos died. Her loved ones were devastated. Everyone was, except Tanzler. There was no way he was giving her up to death. He would bring her back from the dead.

Mummy Love

Tanzler talked de Hoyos’ family into letting him pay for the funeral. He built a mausoleum for her. He spent nearly every night visiting the grave and talking to her. Until one night, he decided that they should go home.

Where was his wife during this time? No one seems to know.

After Tanzler got the body, he simply walked out of the cemetery with the body in a toy wagon. Once he got home, he set the body up on the couch.

Some people have reported seeing him dance with the corpse. There have been rumors of sexual activity between him and the dead body. There is no doubt that he treated de Hoyos as though she were his wife. Even if she wasn’t alive to reciprocate his love.

Keeping it Together

It can be assumed the body began falling apart at some point. Physics demand that. Tanzler was ready for it. If he was going to let death take de Hoyos from him, what chance did time have?

To that end, he stuffed her corpse with rags to help keep her shape. Her skeleton was held together with piano wire and wire hangers. Her eyes were replaced with glass balls. As skin fell off, wax and other such materials were used to patch it up.

In short, the corpse was becoming less and less human. Still, Tanzler was dedicated to keeping de Hoyos with him and letting their love flourish.

Return to the Grave

As outlandish as the story is, there’s one more twist to it. Tanzler was so convinced that in de Hoyos he had found his soulmate, he looked into ways to revive her. He found the solution. He was determined to send the corpse into space and let the outer space radiation bring her back to life.

Word of this got back to de Hoyos’ sister. After seven years of this, she’d finally had enough and stormed his house with the police. She retrieved the corpse and took it back to the cemetery.

Charges couldn’t be brought against Tanzler because the statue of limitations were up. Even if he had been charged, it’s not believed he would have been convicted, public sentiment was on his side. Even Tanzler’s estranged wife forgave him and took care of him in the last days of his life.

de Hoyos’ mangled corpse was put up for public display at a funeral home in Key West. More than 6,000 people went to see it, before the family returned it to unmarked grave.