Evanston Woman Found Living With 3 Dead Siblings

By Prescott Carlson in News on Nov 8, 2008 3:27PM

Police made a startling discovery on a peaceful, well-kept block in Evanston yesterday afternoon. A 90-year-old woman was found living in a house on Judson Avenue with her brother, Frank Bernstorff, and two sisters, Elaine Bernstorff and Anita Bernstorff -- all three of which were deceased. Elaine is said to have not been seen alive since at least the early 1980s. Frank was last seen in 2003, and Anita in May of this year.

Authorities have reported that there is no evidence of foul play, and that the Bernstorffs probably died of natural causes (autopsies are scheduled for today). One of the bodies -- presumably Anita -- was in a bad state of composition, while the other two bodies were skeletons. One neighbor stated she just recently saw the remaining sibling, who has not been identified, handing out candy on Halloween, while another neighbor told the Sun-Times that "perhaps the woman didn’t know what to do when her siblings died." A plausible theory if the three had died at the same time, which obviously they did not. Multiple people were living in the house at some point with at least one dead body -- who knows why none of them took any steps to have them removed. [S-T, Trib]

Photo of house from Google Maps