Only a handful of residents on San Joaquín street in the Palma neighborhood of Buenos Aires noticed something was off. An eighty-year-old couple lived quietly behind a door that rarely opened and rarely spoke. When neighbors finally spoke about the pair, they described two elderly men who kept to themselves and left little trace of activity in the building. The discovery of their deaths on a Tuesday prompted a grim investigation, and the harsh truth began to emerge through the silence of the residence and the strong odor that seeped from inside their home.
A neighbor recalled seeing one of the men at the doorway, startled and pale. The witness said the person living nearby informed the roommate, who arrived quickly after the call was made. This neighbor, who preferred to remain discreet, noted that the couple had led a life marked by privacy and limited public presence in recent years. The exact circumstances surrounding their final days remained largely unknown to most in the area, with few people able to confirm who resided in the upper floors of the building for an extended period.
The two men had taken shelter on the top floor, and their comings and goings had dwindled to almost nothing. The building’s corridors and stairways, once used by several residents, showed little sign of footsteps or voices. The local community found it hard to recognize who still lived there, and the sense of anonymity seemed to deepen as time passed.
The alarm came from the tenants themselves. Calls to the apartment were unanswered for days, and rent remained unpaid for two consecutive months. When the landlord returned home and there was no response at the door, concern grew. A strong, unsettling odor suggested something wrong inside, prompting the landlord to alert authorities.
The National Police responded to the scene and confirmed suspicions of foul play or a hidden tragedy. Inside, investigators found two corpses in advanced stages of decomposition. One was found in a bedroom, the other in a hallway. The absence of visible external injuries led authorities to consider natural causes related to long-term illness or neglect as possible factors, though nothing could be confirmed without a postmortem examination.
Waiting for DNA
Identifying the deceased proved challenging due to the deterioration of the bodies. Authorities explained that DNA testing would be required to establish a clear link to relatives or known records. This step is a standard procedure when labeling remains that cannot be identified through visual means or basic documentation, and it was expected to take time as samples were prepared and compared against available databases. The process is crucial to providing closure for any surviving family members and to ensuring the correct individuals are recognized in the official records.
Preliminary information suggested that one of the men had been recently bedridden, suffering from a serious illness. The other partner had reduced social activity to a minimal level, leaving few neighbors with a precise understanding of who the residents were. The neighborhood quietly watched as the investigation unfolded, with many residents choosing silence over speculation. The potential that the deaths resulted from a mutual decision to end life under pressure from illness was a leading hypothesis among investigators, though confirmation would require toxicology results and a complete autopsy to determine the exact cause and sequence of events.
The central question for the police murder squad remained whether the deaths were a voluntary act taken by the elder who recently endured severe illness, or if another factor played a role. Toxicology tests, administrative records, and interviews with those who might have known the couple would be used to build a clearer picture. Until those analyses are complete, authorities urged patience and cautioned against rushing to conclusions. The evidence collected at the scene and the preliminary findings were to be integrated into a broader assessment of the circumstances surrounding the death of the two elderly men.
The case has drawn attention to the quiet lives of some city residents who slip through the cracks of daily urban life. In many neighborhoods, aging residents may live in isolation, especially when transportation, health care, and social support networks become harder to access. This tragedy underscores the importance of community vigilance, social services outreach, and timely intervention when signs of distress emerge. The investigation will continue with forensic analysis and official inquiries aimed at determining whether neglect, illness, or a deliberate act were the primary drivers behind the deaths, and to provide a respectful accounting for the individuals involved.