The 101-year-old father was diagnosed with a tumour.
An 82-year-old Dutch man, who lives in the town of Landgraaf, kept the body of his dead father in a freezer for 18 months so that he "could still talk to him", as per a report in Independent. The police discovered the body after a family doctor expressed worry about the health of the 101-year-old father.
His son told the police "I didn't want to lose my father. Otherwise I would miss him," according to the outlet that cited 1Limburg. The police said that they are investigating the incident and don't suspect any incident of foul play at the moment.
Landgraaf Police said in a statement, "We are currently investigating the death of this person and why the remains were placed in a freezer. In the interest of the investigation, we are not making any statements about the relationship between the residents of the building at this time."
Meanwhile, the 82-year-old man has been given one week to clean up the family's house, which was discovered in disarray. Officials will then determine if he can continue to live independently.
The outlet, citing a neighbour, noted that his 101-year-old father was diagnosed with a tumour and used to visit a hospital regularly for the treatment of the same.
However, an incident of similar manner also took place in 2015. Dutch authorities discovered that a man had kept his dead mother's body hidden for almost two years while continuing to collect her pension and social assistance payments. He was eventually apprehended and had to repay 40,000 euros.