74-year-old Stanisława Szczęsna from Wrocław disappeared in 2023. Her body was not discovered until December 2025 — in the bathroom of her own apartment. The family says they repeatedly asked for the flat to be checked. Prosecutors have launched an investigation into involuntary manslaughter. Yet in this case there are still more questions than answers.
It is one of those cases that is difficult to comprehend. A 74-year-old woman suddenly disappears. Her family reports her missing. Someone enters her apartment to retrieve a photograph needed for a missing-person notice. A year passes, then two. Only when a cleaning company arrives to empty the apartment is the body discovered — in the bathroom.
The case gained nationwide attention because Stanisława Szczęsna was privately the godmother of Tomasz Komenda, who was wrongfully convicted in the Miłoszyce murder case.
A Disappearance That Was Never Fully Checked
Stanisława Szczęsna lived in Wrocław. Neighbors last saw her about a year and a half before the police notice about her disappearance was published. Notably, that notice still remains on the website of the Municipal Police Headquarters in Wrocław.
The woman’s son officially reported her missing in May 2025. He had not been in contact with her for years. When a photograph was needed for the police search announcement, he entered the apartment together with the building administrator. Inside they saw an inhaler, documents, and money — items an elderly person would be unlikely to leave behind when going out for a longer time. He wanted to look around further but, as he claims, was told to “leave immediately.”
Stanisława Szczęsna’s body was eventually found in December 2025 by a cleaning company tasked with clearing the apartment. The woman was lying in the bathroom. For more than two years, no one had looked there.
Prosecutors Investigate — But Not the Police
The District Prosecutor’s Office for Wrocław Stare Miasto is conducting preparatory proceedings in the case.
“In the matter of involuntary manslaughter of an unidentified woman who, after obtaining an opinion from the Forensic Genetics Laboratory of the Molecular Techniques Department in Wrocław, was identified as Ms. Stanisława Szczęsna. At present, we are awaiting an opinion from the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Piast Silesian Medical University in Wrocław. Due to the current stage of the proceedings and in the interest of the investigation, it is not possible to provide further information at this time,” prosecutor Damian Pownuk told Niezalezna.pl.
Prosecutor Pownuk also added that the issue of whether police officers properly fulfilled their duties is not part of the current proceedings.
How is it possible that when police received a report about the disappearance of an elderly woman — whom neighbors had not seen for a year and a half — they did not check her apartment? How is it possible that several people entered the flat — the son, the administrator — and no one looked into the bathroom? For now, these questions remain unanswered.
The case of Stanisława Szczęsna reveals a deeper problem: what happens to missing-person reports involving elderly individuals living alone, especially those whose families have had little contact with them for years? Who verifies whether search procedures were actually implemented? The prosecutor’s office remains silent, citing the interest of the investigation. The question of potential police responsibility remains — at least for now — outside the scope of the formal proceedings concerning the death of Ms. Stanisława.