Recluse lay dead at home for 10 months

A Wellington man lay dead in his armchair for 10 months before he was discovered, his neighbour collecting mail from his letterbox daily and keeping it for him in a rubbish bag.

The body of Timothy Miles was still sitting in his lounge armchair when Johnsonville police made the grisly discovery on August 19.

Neighbourhood Support and Grey Power say the case is a sad indictment on society, where many old people live with little or no contact with others for months at a time.

Johnsonville Senior Sergeant Peter McKay said the 62-year-old was a recluse who had little to do with other people, including his only surviving family member, his sister-in-law, who lives in Taupo.

Mr McKay said the man's sister-in-law became concerned when she had not heard from Mr Miles and travelled to Wellington to find his home locked and no one answering the door.

She called police who went into the house to find Mr Miles dead. They estimate he died peacefully about 10 months earlier.

"You could say he was in an advanced state of decay. It's not uncommon for people to be undiscovered for a few days or a week but the best part of a year is unusual," Mr McKay said.

He said Mr Miles had an agreement with his neighbour, also a recluse, that they would collect each other's mail if their letterboxes were full.

"The one thing we would say is you should know your neighbours, and if you have concerns call the police," Mr McKay said.

"There's an awful lot of lonely people out there," said Grey Power president Graham Stairmand. "It's a very sad indictment on our society, these people, most of them will be parents I'm sure, and they are neglected by their children."

He said Mr Miles' case was typical of a society where there were many people who just dropped out.

"If you don't notice someone around for 10 months, you'd think something wouldn't you?"

Neighbourhood Support National Development Co-ordinator Yvonne Palmer believed many people had forgotten what it was to be a neighbour.

People needed to start talking to each other, she said.

Neighbours in Mr Miles' street told police that they did not see him often, only when he drove in his driveway and picked up his mail, and that he kept to himself.

His house, down a back section, is not clearly visible from the street.

Mr McKay said neighbours had not noticed a smell or anything else unusual.

One neighbour said she felt terrible about what had happened and had invited her neighbours, many who had never spoken to each other, to her home for an afternoon.

Mrs Palmer said more people needed to get involved in neighbourhood support programmes because it was not about being a nosy neighbour but about looking out for each other.