Carl Tanzler

Georg Carl Tänzler, known as Count Carl von Cosel, was born on February 8, 1877, in Germany. He later became a prominent radiology technologist in the United States, working with the Marine-Hospital Service in Key West, Florida. His career was marked by a deep commitment to his profession, but it was his personal life that would capture the public's attention.

Tanzler's life took a dramatic turn when he became infatuated with a young Cuban-American tuberculosis patient named Elena "Helen" Milagro de Hoyos. Born on July 31, 1909, Elena's battle with the disease deeply affected Tanzler, leading to an obsession that would last long after her untimely death on October 25, 1931.

In a shocking turn of events, Tanzler exhumed Elena's body from her tomb in 1933, nearly two years after her passing. He brought her remains to his home, where he lived with the corpse for seven years, a secret that would eventually be uncovered by her relatives and authorities in 1940. This bizarre chapter of his life has since become a haunting tale of love, obsession, and the lengths one might go to in the name of devotion.