Although history is full of stories of star crossed lovers and romantic obsessions, few
are as strange as that of Carl Tanzler and his infatuation with young woman named Maria
Elena de Hoyos.
It was a love affair that persisted not only in life, but also beyond the grave, and that
proved that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
Dr. Carl Tanzler was born in Dresden, Germany in 1877.
Although he grew up in Germany, he spent much of his adult life living in India and Australia.
When World War 1 broke out, he was held prisoner by the British military until the war was
over.
When he was released, he was barred from re-entering his home country so he headed to Holland and
spent three years living with his mother until 1926 when he sailed from Rotterdam to Cuba
and eventually made his way to the United States, settling in Zephyrhills, Florida where
he was later joined by his wife and two daughters.
The next year, Tanzler left his family and relocated to Key West, where he got a job
as a radiological technician at a US Marine Hospital.
On April 22nd 1930, a 20 year old Cuban-American woman named Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos was
admitted to the hospital where Tanzler worked.
Described as strikingly beautiful, she had always had her fair share of admirers and
had even been married when she was 16 but was abandoned by her husband after a miscarriage.
Tanzler was immediately enamored by her.
But to Tanzler it was more than just a simple crush.
You see, when he was a child he claimed to have been visited by visions of a dead ancestor
who revealed to him the face of his true love, a face that he recognized as that of Maria
Elena.
As she grew more ill and was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis, Tanzler made it his mission
to save her.
He convinced his superiors to allow him to conduct his own experimental treatments on
her.
He used all kinds of elixirs and tonics, and even an X-ray machine that he had installed
in her home.
He also showered her with gifts of jewelry and clothing.
She tolerated his infatuation, but by all accounts it was a one-sided love.
Despite the doctor's best efforts, Hoyos died on October 25, 1932 in her parents' home in
Key West.
Tanzler paid for all of her funeral expenses and hired a mortician to embalm her.
He even went as far as to build an expensive stone mausoleum for her.
Unbeknownst to Elena's family, Tanzler retained the only key to the mausuleum and for two
years, he visited the tomb as often as he could.
Rumors about his obsessive visits to her grave grew so rampant that he was fired from his
job.
After two years of frequent visits, Tanzler decided to take his obsession to the next
level.
In April of 1933, he snuck into the cemetery at night and stole her body, transporting
it out using a toy wagon.
He brought the body home and began work on preserving it, even though it was already
very badly decomposed.
He fitted the face with glass eyes, used wire to hold her bones together, mixed plaster
and waxed fabric to replace her rotted skin, filled her body with rags to maintain the
shape and made a wig out of her own salvaged hair.
To top it all off, he applied formaldehyde and perfume.
As the corpse continued to decompose, Tanzler would constantly replace the decaying skin
with silk cloth soaked in wax and plaster of paris.
He lived with the corpse for almost 7 years.
During that time, neighbors reported looking through his window and seeing him dancing
with what they thought was a giant doll.
They also found it strange that he would frequently buy women's clothing even though he lived
alone.
To top it all off, he was building a spaceship to fly himself and Elena into the stratosphere,
believing that she would be rejuvenated by the radiation.
In October of 1940, he was finally confronted by Elena's sister.
The body was discovered and Tanzler was arrested.
After a psychiatric evaluation, he was deemed mentally competent enough to stand trial.
The trial was a media sensation and drew huge crowds.
During this time, Elena's corpse was examined by doctors and according to some reports,
they discovered a paper tube that had been inserted in the vaginal area of the body that
was used for sex.
However, these claims have been disputed and it's still unclear whether any necrophilia
actually happened but I don't think it's too farfetched to think that it did.
The charges against Tanzler were eventually dropped because the statute of limitations
had expired on his crimes.
After the trial, Elena's body was put on display at a funeral home and over 6,000 people paid
to see her.
When the commotion died down, Elena's body was buried in the Key West Cemetary in an
unmarked grave.
As for Carl Tanzler, he moved back near his wife in Pasco County, Florida but was never
able to shake his obsession.
Using a death mask of Elena, he constructed a life-sized effigy of her that he maintained
in his house until his death in 1952.
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