Tanzler was so in love with Elena that he married her corpse after her early death

On April 22, 1930, a young beautiful woman who had chest infection was brought for a chest x-ray in the Marine Hospital in Key West, Florida, where Tanzler worked as a radiographer. Upon examination, the x-ray findings showed Maria Elena had tuberculosis.

Despite not being a doctor, Tanzler offered to treat her, this was a time when tuberculosis was a deadly infection. He showered her with gifts , and told her he was in love with her.

On October 25, 1931, Elena succumbed to the illness. Heart-broken Tanzler paid for her funerals and with the consent of her family members he built an above ground mausoleum for her which he visited every night.

Two years later, in1933, he dug up the corpse, and kept it in his room. He bound her bones with wires, gave her artificial eyes, filled up the abdominal cavity with clothing materials, masked the smell with perfumes, and then lived with the body for seven years.

When Elena’s sister confronted Tanzler in his house concerning a rumor she heard, she was stunned when she caught him dancing with her sister’s body in front of a mirror.

Separated from his love, Tanzler built a human-sized sculpture of Elena, and lived with it until his death at the age of 75 on July 3, 1952. His body was discovered on the floor of his home three weeks after.