Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

The skeletal remains of a German man and his dog have been found in his flat eight years after he was reported missing to cops and apparently neither his neighbours or family noticed he was in there.

The discovery was made when firemen broke into his flat when a fire started in the cellar.

The man named as Heinz, 59, was found decomposed next to his dog who is thought to have starved to death after his owner died in a flat in Senden, a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Firemen were forced to evacuate the building and account for the inhabitants after a fire broke out in the rubbish room in the cellar of the building.

When they broke into the 50-square-metre they found the skeleton of the man and his dog, Linus.

A neighbour Angelika H., 60, who claimed to be good friends with Heinz claims she reported him missing to police and authorities but accuses them of not following up on her worries and not checking on him in his flat.

She said: “He was a nice guy, a bit of a loner- He told me he left his job as a baker as he an allergy to flour dust.

“He told me he was completely burned out with his job. I realised he was not cooking so much for himself, sometimes I brought him food I had cooked. He was a really nice neighbour.

Angelika described how the father of an adult son lost around 60 kilogrammes (132 lbs) and she saw him less and less. She said an older, partially blind man was seen taking the dog for a walk. Then she stopped seeing the dog too.

Angelika, who also cleaned the floors in the corridors of the building said she had a bad feeling, and when she noticed a strange smell in the building she reported it to the facility manager of the building who ran a pub on the ground floor. But the manager claimed that there were no strange smells.

The post box was also overflowing.

Angelika said: “I called the man’s health insurance and asked if the man had been to the doctors lately. They told me that I should call the police.”

Police allegedly came but could not notice any strange smells either. A neighbour reportedly told police Heinz H. was with a friend in Muenster. The case was quickly shelved.

Angelika said: “I called his pension company, the building owners, the public order office and even tried to contact his son, but I didn’t get anywhere.”

The man’s car, which was covered in green, and the tyres were flat, had not been used in years, but this was also not followed up on.

Angelika said: “He did not deserve to die the way he did.”

His body is now being examined and police are investigating the case.

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