¶ Collyer Brothers: Normal Beginnings
Why were the Collier brothers hermitic hoarders? I'm Adam from Ripleys.com and this is your Weird Minute. Langley and Homer Collier came from a family with deep roots in America. When their mother passed away, they inherited the house. Neither ever married or had children, so they just continued living together. Homer became a maritime lawyer and Langley worked as a piano dealer.
¶ Isolation and Extreme Hoarding
They led seemingly normal lives, socializing with friends and going out, but then everything changed. Homer lost his sight and became paralyzed. Instead of seeking medical help, Langley quit his job to care for his brother. As the years progressed, the two became entirely withdrawn and Langley collected all sorts of things. Though they had no phone, heat, electricity, or water, and wore clothes held together with pins,
Langley seemed to give no second thought to paying off his mortgage when the bank tried to evict him or when buying an adjoining property to keep neighbors away. When police knocked down their door after reports of a dead body, they were met by 120 tons of junk. Langley had dug tunnels through the trash and laid booby traps. Apparently one had gone off and killed him in a collapse. Homer was dead 10 feet away from starvation.
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