On March 21, 1947, the New York Police Department received an anonymous tip complaining about a smell from 2078 Fifth Ave in Harlem. When the police arrived at the scene, they found 120 tons of garbage, a dead body, and a missing brother they suspected of murder.
Homer and Langley Collyer lived in a home in Harlem that they inherited after their parents' death. As the two grew older, they became reclusive to the point where they would rarely be seen outside their home.
Their three-story home in Harlem became filled with relics, trash, and hundreds of unread newspapers. When the NYPD arrived at the Collyer home, there was so much trash that police had to enter through the second-story window and make a hole in the roof.
Homer died in his home on March 21 due to starvation and a heart attack. The elder brother was blinded after a stroke years prior and had become paralyzed from rheumatism.
Langley, his younger brother and caretaker, was found half a month later, buried under a pile of garbage 10 feet away from Homer's body. Police suspected that Langley died after tripping one of the many booby traps he set up throughout his home.
Here's the story of two brothers who turned away from the outside world and created a palace from what they collected off the streets.