Carl Tanzler and Elena de Hoyos

In 1940 Key West learned that radiologist Carl Tanzler had taken the body of his former patient Elena de Hoyos, who died of tuberculosis in 1931, from her tomb and kept it in his home for seven years.

1940 CE · 24.56, -81.78 · status: official

The account

Tanzler said Elena's spirit had asked him to take her from the grave and that he hoped to revive her. He rebuilt the body with wax, wire and glass eyes. He was not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had run out.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Carl Tanzler