Finding Love Later In Life Is Great, But Was This Love Or A Creepy Fetish?

Carl Tanzler’s Terrifying, Deadly Obsession

In 1930, 53-year-old Carl Tanzler fell in love with 21-year-old Elena de Hoyos who was dying of tuberculosis in a Florida hospital.

Convinced that this young woman was the love of his life, Carl did everything he could to save her. He tried everything from homemade concoctions to newfangled medical equipment.

When his efforts failed, he made sure that she would remain with him forever… no matter that Elena de Hoyos was already dead. This is the disturbing story of Carl Tanzler, the man who loved a corpse and went to eerie lengths to keep her by his side.

The Death of Elena de Hoyos

In April of 1930, the beautiful but doomed Elena de Hoyos arrived at the Marine Hospital in Key West, Florida for blood tests.

Elena’s prognosis was grim. She was diagnosed with fast-acting tuberculosis for which she stayed at the hospital for treatment.

A man who went by the name, Count Carl Von Cosel who by the way, wasn’t a count at all, was her x-ray technician. Although some have described him as a mad scientist, others, and or a brilliant doctor, he was more likely a grotesque fetishist. You be the judge.