Home > Crime > Decomposed Body Of Missing American Woman Found In Sydney Tree

Decomposed Body Of Missing American Woman Found In Sydney Tree

February 15, 2012 at 10:29 am by Morbid

Sydney, Australia – The body found decomposing in a tree in Sydney has been positively identified as a missing American woman who allegedly committed suicide.

Residents living near an oak tree in Sydney had complained about the smell of something dead in the tree, but figured it was a possum or cat. They never suspected it was the decomposing body of 22-year-old Melissa Joy Dietzel, an American woman who had been missing for almost a month. I’m assuming the tree surgeon who found her body 30 ft up the tree didn’t suspect it either.

Dietzel was in Australia on a six-month working Visa that expired this May, working as a family’s live-in nanny. That family had to let Dietzel go after she refused to see doctors over her increasingly strange behavior and the fact that she was hearing voices. She told her host family that she had to get back to America anyway as the voices had told her that her parents were dying.

Her father commented on this Huffington Post article that after leaving that family, she went to stay with a friend but no one knows exactly when or why Dietzel chose to climb that particular tree. Investigators believe she had been in the tree for two weeks before she was found. One neighbor who lives near the tree thinks Dietzel may have walked through her garden on New Year’s Eve to get to the tree that has since been removed, along with the fence underneath it.

Bipolar disorder ran in Dietzel’s family. Her mother struggled with it and her 24-year-old brother, who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, killed himself three years ago. But Dietzel did not begin exhibiting any symptoms of the disorder until 2010. That’s when she began having trouble sleeping and would often talk endlessly. When her family expressed concerns, Dietzel told them there was nothing to worry about, that these were simply the resymptoms of being a university student.

Her family had not heard from her since November, despite numerous attempts to contact her, and figured that she just wanted her space and would return when she was ready. Those thoughts of Dietzel returning home alive vanished when police contacted them last week, asking for her dental records.

Mental illness sucks. Especially when it keeps the person suffering from it from realizing they are suffering from it.

Tags: Australia, Crime, Melissa Joy Dietzel, mental illness, Suicide

50 Comments

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Pyncky

So Sad.
http://tothechest.com Pete Puma

Now I know why my grandfather always told me “Women don’t grow on trees, but they sure can rot in them.”
http://twitter.com/AngelsMom0806 Angels Mom

RIP Melissa Joy Dietzel

My heart goes out to her parents. I can’t imagine losing two children under any circumstances but suicide probably has them thinking that they may have been able to do something, anything, to stop it. They couldn’t have.
Mamma

Well. How did she kill herself in the tree?
http://www.dreamindemon.com Morbid

They haven’t said, or I would have said.
Smileypants

Yikes….losing two children to suicide. That’s enough to break down even the strongest of people. I really feel for her family…..very sad =(
http://www.facebook.com/DirtyBirdBryce Bryce C. Bear

good thing she wasnt playing skyrim
LeaveMeBe

I hear people say all the time “Life isn’t so bad and it is what you make of it” and I believe that.

Then I read something like this and realize that for some people, it is that bad, and it tears my heart out.

Morbid’s so right, mental illness sucks.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

Life can be terrible,in the end it is what you make of it – but it can be awful hard to bake a cake,when the only ingredient you have is shit.
Lena60

How sad for this family.I wonder how she was able to get 30 feet up into the tree.
Deety

Huh?
Andy P

According to the linked article they said, “Authorities say they are not ruling out suicide.” Glad for that because this looks like a case of suicide to me. Interesting they didn’t say she hanged herself which sounds likely.
Andy P

Ladder? She climbed the branches? :)
LeaveMeBe

Going to steal this one from you and use it, if you don’t mind. It would go good with: sometimes you cannot help a person by doing anything except crawling into the shit with them and just sitting there.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

I feel bad for Melissa’s family … one of my sisters started hearing voices a few years ago … I didn’t see that one coming … the voices know her name,and are constantly talking about her as if she can’t hear them.My sister is fine as long as she stays on her medication,but if she stops taking the medicine the voices always return,and her behavior gets weird.One of the only places that she feels safe when she starts hearing the voices is inside of her car – because it’s small,and she knows shes alone inside it;she has at times slept inside of her car with it inside of my mom’s garage,because she did not feel safe sleeping inside the house.

My sister would wonder around my mom’s house at all hours because she was afraid to go to sleep – fearing that the people (behind the voices) were going to hurt her.My sister is in her early 30′s,but she spends a lot of time over at my mom’s house – because of her illness.Before the voices started,her and her husband had a big ass,2 story house (man it was nice),but because of the illness she ended up losing the house.My sister is on her medicine right now and doing fine … the doctors have warned her,and her husband that if she continues to stop taking her medication eventually the illness will reach a point that medication will no longer help her.

Based on my sister’s actions my guess is that Melissa may have initially climbed the tree because she felt safe up in it … later she may have hurt herself because she was depressed.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JTXWGMNM36EPO6SQLBO7XCH4PE Trish D

It’s along the lines of a phrase that irritates the crap outta me “God never gives you more than you can handle.” Ummmm, okay well maybe it’s not FROM God, but it comes from somewhere and people who get more than they can handle just check out…sigh. Now “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” I can relate to!
JohnQknowitall

I cannot believe that her family did not call the authorities with such an abrupt end of communication especially with her family and her history of mental health issues. She may have been found alive if only her family had pushed for an investigation earlier.
LeaveMeBe

Thats tough Ced. I hope your sister continues to take her medication. My heart goes out to her, you and your family.
Ivan

DD is the last place I expect to discuss mental illness. My 11-year-old cousin suffers from bipolar disorder and is increasingly aggressive. Such a shame he’s an intelligent lad. We never realised anything wrong with him until he refused to go to school months ago. He said the kids weren’t educated on queueing and butted in line all the time. They wouldn’t listen when he tried to teach them right. He had a point, didn’t he? But he went to such an extreme he wouldn’t have his days in school because, in his words, he didn’t want to associate with people of their ilk. The kids even went to his home to apologise and yet he still wouldn’t get out. He always came off as opinionated so we were under the impression it was personality issues. It went on for quite some time until we eventually came to realisation it was more serious than we thought. We recalled he began saying he hears voices two years ago. He sometimes complains noises when there isn’t any. Being in a tense state, he suspects others talk about him behind his back when they don’t. And when he’s upset, he gets physical instantly. I think he needs medical attention and quick. But his parents still remain in denial to this point. Aunt blames it on superstitious matters. My mother once put it on the line and suggested the kid be taken to a psychiatrist. She couldn’t take it so the discussion ended there. We can’t push for his treatment in fear of backlash should anything go wrong. We’re worried there could be any sideeffect putting a child so young on medication.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

Thank you.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

If what you suspect is the actual cause the sooner he is evaluated,and given medicine the better for him – my understanding is that over time,left untreated,it gets gradually worse,and eventually it reaches a point where it can become untreatable.I am sorry to hear about this kid suffering – I wish you the best.
Lena60

Double huh? *scratches head*
Lena60

Ced was she diagnoised with this? The reason iam asking is because sometimes hearing voices is not a mental illness.I hear voices but iam not mentally ill. Iam a psychic medium and clairaudient.One way to find out for certain is to use a tape recorder.If she has other sytoms that accompany that though it probably is a mental illness. Either way I wish her well.
Babydoll0630

OMG! I’m so sorry to hear that your sister is suffering in such a way.
Lena60

I agree John. What a shame.
DangerousKindOfSnark

Good luck. I have a friend who is paranoid schizophrenic and the moment she starts to feel better she decides she doesn’t need her pills anymore and well, you know the rest. It’s a really shitty cycle.
Ivan

Thanks mate.
JGo555

Call CPS on their asses. The kid might hurt someone or himself. It’s all for his benefit… try to see if you can do it annonymously so that you can’t be shunned by your family.
JGo555

Ok, no one’s gonna be the insensitive asshole!?

Ok, I’ll do it.

“Well the girl on the tree,
and the stink off the girl
and the bird in the egg
and the egg in the nest
and the nest on the branch
and the branch on the tree
and the tree in the hole
and the hole in the ground,
and the green grass grows all around, all around
and the green grass grows all around.”
Perp Walk Fan

Reminds me of this tree suicide. “A skeleton of a German man who shot and killed himself in a tree has been found by a hiker – nearly 30 years later.”Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513355,00.html#ixzz1mWr73YGY
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jerri-Blank/100002828502192 Jerri Blank

you can make shit salad though
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

I understand what you are talking about,and yes she was diagnosed,but you already know that medical doctors do not recognize the whole psychic thing – so even if that was the case their diagnoses would be for medication.

Since you brought it up I will say that I do in fact believe that some people who claim to hear and see shit really do.I think that most of these people have a mental illness,but I don’t honestly believe each and everyone of them does.All Christians believe in spirits,we just don’t as a whole believe that living humans are supposed to see these entities.I once asked a Baptist Minister about this,and he said that there is something like a door,and that this door is supposed to be shut;he said that if a person does in fact see or hear something that the odds are it is not a thing of God.I believe that simply because no one else hears,or sees what the person claims they hear or see does not by itself mean the person is incorrect,or mentally ill.It is well known that the human eye has a limited color spectrum,we do not normally see everything with our naked eyes;example – air.I could go on but you get the idea.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

Thank you.
Ivan

It’s taking a serious toll on everyone around him. Was already hotheaded before the symptoms appeared. Now he mentally and physically hurts everyone in the home. God forbid his parents blame his behaviour on him. We all know he’s ill and can’t allow the situation to drag on. But at the same time, as said above, we’re worried about our good deeds being punished. Hope to figure out something real soon.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

That is exactly how my sister has been – you nailed it.My sister gets better,then decides that she doesn’t need any medicine,and she always brings up the fact that no one else in the family is having to take any medicine,so why does she have to take it;this has always ended the same way,erratic behavior – things like driving around in her car all day,going no where in particular.Once I saw her pick up a dinner plate off of the kitchen cabinet and hold it to her chest;she said that it helped protect her from the “people”,when I explained to her that her behavior was not normal my sister agreed with me,but she still insisted that what she said was true.She said that in the past she had been sleeping on my mom’s couch and that the “people” had kept hitting her in her head waking her up – but that she had held a plastic bowl in front of her head and they had stopped hitting her and let her sleep.
kimbev69

I think its sad to see someone have this happen to a loved one
kimbev69

I didnt recognize the song at first omg lol
Wildheart

Wow I can’t even imagine what she’s going through. That’s got to be scarier than any horror movie out there. I wish the best for your sister and your family.
Wildheart

Poor kid! I hope his parents get him the help he needs. He’s lucky to have people like you who care so much about him.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

It really is sad … specially when they are good people who have never done anything wrong in their life … to live well,take care of yourself,and then be smacked with mental illness while still fairly young is a very cruel,sad joke.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

I really appreciate that thank you.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

I wish you the best on this,it’s hard knowing exactly what to tell you – but one things for sure – he needs help.
kimbev69

An ex had a brother that was valedictorian just like him and played high school football, all around good kid, went off to penn state, into the first yr or so he became schizophrenic, i met him about ten yrs later, his mom bought him home for fourth of july weekend after asking if i was ok with it, which of course i had no issues but my ex couldnt stand to see him, he always feared he was next, his brother held my hand and we played basketball, he was like he was stuck being a child or teen
CT

Even with medication, it is a long road. It takes years to find the right combination and even then it is no miracle cure. I have a brother who is also bi-polar and he is going to be 40 this year and hasn’t kept a job more than a year and lives with another sibling of mine. I don’t know if he will ever be able to be alone. We have to keep track of him because he will just disappear. Looking back, there were signs that something was wrong but at that time no one ever talked about mental illness. I like to think that if we would have known 20 years or more ago we wouldn’t have the heartbreak that we have with him. Good luck.
alexandra wolf

i have bipolar disorder and its nothing like this, sorry. this sounds a lot crazier.
LeXiiiLuV

This story is so sad, yet strange… so the disorder caused her to climb the tree and stay there until she starved to death? or did she kill herself up there and was found roughly 2 wks later?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

Don’t you need some lettuce for that ?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

I am very sorry to hear about your brother having this issue CT;my heart is with you Hun.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XKMAEMPVJ5T2Y35HKYTNG7I6SY Cedric

I can deal with the trash we see regularly on this site a lot better than I can deal with innocent suffering … sad story Kim.
kimbev69

I always wonder how he is, the brother not the ex :0)