If you spend enough time online then chances are you have already seen this photograph. This is Blanche Monnier, a woman who was confined in a tiny room for over 25 years by her own family. 

But what exactly led up to this and why would anyone do this to their own family member? We have to go back to 1800s France when Blanche was still a young, vibrant woman in her 20s.

Blanche’s Love Story

Just a few years prior, Mr. Monnier had passed away, leaving behind his wife, Louise, and two children. A son named Marcel, and of course, Blanche. Despite the loss, however, anyone looking in would have said that Blanche was on top of the world.

She came from a very wealthy family and no doubt had her pick of suitors. There was just one problem, however. Blanche had fallen in love with a lawyer, one who was not very well established.

He was definitely did not have anything near the wealth of the Monniers. The mother and daughter argued and bickered over the relationship but even so, Blanche still planned on marrying the man.

She told her friends about her plans and before too long the whole town anticipated the sound of church bells. Now, instead, they were met with silence.

Blanche suddenly disappeared from public view and at first, nobody suspected anything bizarre might have happened.

They continued going about their lives, but when Blanche failed to return after an extended period, people began to talk.

It was then that Mrs. Monnier broke down and admitted what had supposedly happened to her beloved daughter. She told neighbors that Blanche had actually gone insane.

And rather than cruelly admitting her to an asylum she was to be kept at the wealthy family’s home, her every need attended to. For the most part, the public did buy the story.

Keep in mind, that the Monnier family was not only extremely wealthy but also highly influential in both church and government.

The Letter

Marcel held a position in public office as this was going on. And there also hadn’t been much of a reason for anyone to the Monniers might be lying.

That is until about eight years after Blanche’s disappearance. Late one evening, a neighbor had been walking past the Monnier estate when he suddenly heard the sound of screams emanating from a tiny window at the family’s home.

The voice, which sounded female, was uttering things about being held against her will and not even knowing why. The next morning said neighbor confronted Mrs. Monnier about the incident.

To which she claimed that Blanche’s sanity had progressed to the point of delusions. Marcel vouched for her and the window was boarded up.

A couple of years later, the lawyer to whom Blanche was engaged passed away suddenly, and the public all but forgot about the vanished girl.

Meanwhile, Blanche was now living in complete darkness and wouldn’t see light again for a whole 17 more years. Throughout this period, Blanche was cared for by a long-time maid.

But once she’d retired she was replaced by two younger women. Both were horrified by the Monnier’s family secret.

In 1901 one of them decided to write an anonymous letter to the police alerting them about the girl kept locked up by her employer.

The letter read, “Attorney general, I need to notify you of a freakishly serious occurrence. I speak of a spinster who is locked up in Madame Monnier’s house, half-starved, and living in the putrid litter for the past 25 years. In a word, in her own filth.”

Discovery of Blanche

Authorities quickly made their way to the Monnier residence. And although they were initially met with resistance from Mrs. Monnier and Marcel, they were eventually led to Blanche’s room.