When the police officer had opened the window, it was the first time Blanche Monnier had seen the sun in over two decades. She had been kept completely naked and chained to her bed since the time of her mysterious “disappearance” 25 years earlier. Unable to even get up to relieve herself, the now-middle-aged woman was covered in her own filth and surrounded by the vermin that had been lured in by the rotting scraps. The horrified policemen were so overwhelmed by the smell of filth and decay that they were unable to stay in the room more than a few minutes:
