On May 23, 1901, police in Poitiers, France, discovered 52-year-old Blanche Monnier locked inside a small upstairs bedroom after receiving an anonymous letter. She had been secretly confined by her mother and, according to investigators, had not left the room for approximately 25 years.
When officers forced the door open, they found Blanche severely malnourished, weighing only about 55 pounds (25 kilograms), living in filthy conditions, and surrounded by accumulated waste. Authorities concluded she had been hidden away after her family opposed her desire to marry a lawyer they considered socially unsuitable.
Blanche was rescued and taken to a hospital, but the effects of her long confinement left lasting physical and psychological damage. Her mother, Louise Monnier, was arrested but died shortly after, and Blanche’s brother, Marcel Monnier, was convicted for his role before the conviction was later overturned on appeal. Blanche spent the remainder of her life in psychiatric care and died in 1913.
