Body of former Hermitage employee discovered in Petersburg after delay
The apartment in the Admiralteysky district of St. Petersburg was opened on Wednesday, January 28, around noon. The opening took place in the presence of the pensioner«s half-sister and an acquaintance. Inside, they found the body of 80-year-old Lyudmila Fyodorovna Ilyina.
«Today around 12 o»clock, the apartment was opened in the presence of Lyudmila Fyodorovna«s half-sister and acquaintance, and the body was found. She died between December 26 and 29,» a source from Fontanka reported.
Contact with the woman was lost in late December. She last answered calls on December 26, and by December 29, neither colleagues nor acquaintances could reach her.
The situation became known after an appeal from a local resident, Oksana, who took in the pensioner«s cat. According to her, on the day the acquaintance of Ilyina — Marina Anatolyevna — disappeared, they managed to open one door of the apartment, but the second was bolted from inside. The police and emergency services officers who arrived then refused to open it.
In the following weeks, emergency services visited this address repeatedly:
- December 29,
- January 3,
- and later, with the involvement of a local police officer.
However, as neighbors and acquaintances claimed, no active measures were taken. The police explained this by the lack of an official written missing person report, despite submitted electronic appeals.
Ilyina«s half-sister»s daughter, Marina, confirmed that she filed a report through the Ministry of Internal Affairs website and received confirmation of acceptance. She was told by the police that without clear signs, such as the smell of a corpse, and in the absence of rights to the apartment, it was impossible to insist on opening the door.
Lyudmila Ilyina worked almost her entire life at the State Hermitage, until she was 79. Shortly before her disappearance, she was fired, which, according to close ones, could have been a serious shock for the elderly woman.
