173:. Her mother died when Vincent was 11, and her four older sisters took responsibility for her upbringing. She had a strained relationship with her emotionally distant father, who she claimed had died in 2001 (he actually died in 2004, unaware that Vincent had predeceased him). She attended Melcombe Primary School and Fulham Gilliatt School for Girls, and left school at age sixteen with no qualifications. She had a wide circle of friends in the music industry and when she was 25, she attended and was video recorded in the backstage audience at the concert
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remained turned on until she was discovered. Half of her rent was being automatically paid to
Metropolitan Housing Trust by benefits agencies, leading officials to believe that she was still alive. With over two years' worth of unpaid rent totalling £2,400 that had accrued, housing officials decided to repossess the property. Her corpse was discovered on 25 January 2006 when bailiffs had forced entry into the flat. The television and heating were still running due to
374:. From the book that accompanied the deluxe release of the album it is clear that the central character, 'H.', is a highly fictionalised version of Vincent: she is born on 8 October 1978 to an Italian mother and dies or disappears on 22 December 2014. Her only sister is 'J.', who was briefly fostered by her parents prior to their divorce. In the album and book the Christmas presents are intended for H.'s estranged brother and his family.
214:. During this period, she became estranged from her family. A source involved in the investigation said: "She detached herself from her family but there was no bust up. They are a really nice family. We understand she was in a relationship and there was a history of domestic violence." It has been speculated that she was either ashamed to be a victim of domestic abuse or did not want to be found by her abuser.
33:
321:
playing
Vincent, was released in 2011. Morley tracked down and interviewed people who had known Vincent. They described a beautiful, intelligent, socially active woman, "upwardly mobile" and "a high flyer", who they assumed "was off somewhere having a better life than they were". During her life, she
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Neighbours had assumed the flat was unoccupied, and the odour of decomposing body tissue was attributed to nearby waste bins. The flat's windows did not allow direct sight to the inside. It was a noisy building which may explain why no one questioned the constant noise from the television, which
257:
or complications surrounding her recent peptic ulcer as a possible cause of death. Her remains were described as "mostly skeletal" according to the pathologist, and she was lying on her back, next to a shopping bag, surrounded by
Christmas presents she had wrapped but never delivered.
280:, and she had to be identified through dental records. Police ruled death by natural causes as there was nothing to suggest foul play. The front door was double locked and there was no sign of a break-in. Her sisters had hired a private detective to look for her and contacted the
284:, but these attempts proved unsuccessful. The detective found the previous address where Vincent had been living, and the family wrote letters to her there, receiving no response. As a result, the family concluded she had deliberately broken ties with them.
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115:. Around the same time, she began to reduce contact with friends and family. She died sometime in December 2003. Her remains were discovered on 25 January 2006, with the cause of death believed to be either an
206:. She worked at Ernst & Young for four years in the treasury department, but resigned in March 2001 for unknown reasons. Shortly afterwards, Vincent spent some time in a domestic abuse shelter in
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had not been realised until much later. The Trust also said that no concerns were raised by neighbours or visitors at any time during the two years between her death and the discovery of her body.
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in North London in a
Housing Trust flat. The cause of her death is unknown, as is the date, though it is speculated to be around December 2003. She suffered from
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111:. Prior to her death, she had cut off nearly all contact with those who knew her. She resigned from her job in 2001, and moved into a shelter for victims of
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103:(19 October 1965 – December 2003) was an English woman whose death went unnoticed for more than two years as her corpse lay undiscovered at her
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The
Metropolitan Housing Trust said that due to housing benefits covering the costs of rent for some period after Vincent's death,
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370:, would be based on the life of Vincent. According to Wilson, he was inspired to create a concept album after seeing
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898:"Dreams of a Life – review | cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online"
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area on 19 October 1965 and raised near Fulham Palace Road. Her parents had immigrated to London from
388:– Japanese phenomenon of people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long period of time
441:"Joyce Carol Vincent: How could this young woman lie dead and undiscovered for almost three years?"
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401:
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Steven Wilson, Hand. Cannot. Erase. Deluxe edition with insert facsimile documents. Kscope, 2015
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942:"Steven Wilson Explains New Album's Concept and Inspiration, Shares Fresh Music in New Clip"
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Duff, Oliver (14 April 2006). "Woman lay dead in her flat for more than two years".
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Steven Wilson at Air
Studios – Part 2: Concept and Inspiration | StevenWilsonHQ.com
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Edwards, Richard (13 April 2006). "Body in flat for 2 years: TV was still on".
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blood, she was hospitalised at North
Middlesex Hospital for two days, due to a
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and had a peptic ulcer at the time of her death, so some have suggested an
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DocHouse 'Dreams of A Life' Q&A with Carol Morley 24 January 2012
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850:"Latest Film Reviews - Movie News - Features - Interviews - Empire"
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Dreams Of A Life - Interview with the
Director Carol Morley on BYOD
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781:"Body of woman, 40, lay unmissed in flat for more than two years"
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183:. Reportedly, she met Mandela at the concert and shook his hand.
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and was used to house victims of abuse. In
November 2003, after
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Nelson
Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa
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Vincent's remains were too badly decomposed to conduct a full
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and her bills being continually paid through automatic debit.
545:"Carol Morley vs Kevin Macdonald: video interview exclusive"
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Knight, India (16 April 2006). "The dark side of Bridget".
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608:"Body of woman left to rot in her flat for two years"
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film. The film and Vincent's life inspired musician
165:descent. Her father, Lawrence, was a carpenter of
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186:In 1985, Vincent began working as a secretary at
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225:where she later died. The flat was owned by the
827:Dreams of a Life: A Glimpse into a Golden Apple
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507:"Lost to Her Friends, but There All the Time"
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366:announced that his fourth solo album, titled
217:In February 2003, Vincent was moved into the
126:Vincent's life and death were the topic of
655:"A life lived alone in a city of millions"
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245:Vincent lived above the Shopping City in
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954:from the original on 8 November 2014
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1033:21st-century English businesspeople
1003:English people of Grenadian descent
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667:from the original on 26 August 2024
397:List of solved missing person cases
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153:Joyce Vincent was born in London's
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1038:21st-century English businesswomen
711:"Woman's body in bedsit for years"
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16:British unsolved death (1965–2003)
14:
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793:from the original on 3 March 2014
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505:Holden, Stephen (2 August 2012).
342:and had also been to dinner with
1008:English people of Indian descent
779:Gillan, Audrey (14 April 2006).
742:"Freedom of Information request"
439:Morley, Carol (9 October 2011).
1023:Missing person cases in England
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482:. Bizarre Globe. Archived from
338:, spoke on the telephone with
169:and her mother, Lyris, was of
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606:Dawar, Anil (14 April 2006).
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210:and worked as a cleaner in a
37:Studio photograph of Vincent
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1013:Ernst & Young people
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223:Wood Green Shopping City
1018:Formerly missing people
931:Retrieved June 12, 2016
402:List of unsolved deaths
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392:Death of Hedviga Golik
307:A film about Vincent,
194:. She later worked at
832:7 March 2021 at the
663:. 29 December 2011.
589:Film Fest 2012-05-25
368:Hand. Cannot. Erase.
357:Hand. Cannot. Erase.
322:met figures such as
143:Hand. Cannot. Erase.
950:. 4 November 2014.
947:Ultimate-Guitar.Com
613:The Daily Telegraph
486:on 21 February 2014
350:Steven Wilson album
101:Joyce Carol Vincent
47:Joyce Carol Vincent
1028:People from Fulham
910:on 5 December 2017
660:The Glasgow Herald
620:on 4 February 2012
555:on 22 October 2018
543:Macdonald, Kevin.
519:on 26 January 2014
512:The New York Times
288:In popular culture
717:. 14 April 2006.
204:Ernst & Young
179:in April 1990 at
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336:Betty Wright
315:Carol Morley
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340:Isaac Hayes
328:Ben E. King
319:Zawe Ashton
278:post-mortem
221:flat above
155:Hammersmith
61:Hammersmith
982:Categories
408:References
247:Wood Green
83:Wood Green
53:1965-10-19
385:Kodokushi
140:'s album
134:docudrama
132:, a 2011
67:, England
952:Archived
830:Archived
791:Archived
755:Archived
719:Archived
715:BBC News
665:Archived
451:Archived
378:See also
231:vomiting
208:Haringey
958:12 June
914:8 March
885:YouTube
864:20 July
764:4 March
725:4 March
583:YouTube
559:4 March
490:4 March
271:arrears
190:in the
159:Grenada
854:Empire
334:, and
251:asthma
219:bedsit
196:C.Itoh
163:Dougla
117:asthma
105:bedsit
65:London
758:(PDF)
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317:with
241:Death
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673:2014
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587:SXSW
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198:and
149:Life
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