Melbourne, Florida - On April 19^th, 1964, Oren "Mac" Mackerel ate his modest bowl of Special K with skim milk, gave his cat "Dolly" her daily dollop of cream, drank the last of his Sanka and headed for his Sunday Open House, just as he had a thousand times before. 

Mac, a Realtor with now defunct HappyHomes Realty, Inc., was looking forward to a nice, home cooked meal with Miss Lucille, Melbourne city librarian, later in the day. Today was going to be meatloaf, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, a green Jell-O salad with pears and a big, fat slice of double-chocolate cake. 

Twenty four years later, to the day, Mac was discovered inside the home he was hoping to sell at the Open House. The sale would have helped pay for the diamond engagement ring he had on layaway for Miss Lucille down at Jessup's Jewelry. 

Melbourne police, contacted by a homeless man on his Blackberry, were shocked to find the mummified Mr. Mackerel in the home's formal living room, "looking as if he was pointing out the features of the home and its furnishings which, according to flyers, were being offered for sale with the home."

Captain James Dangle with the Melbourne Police department said, "It appears Mr. Mackerel died of heart failure during an Open House some time in April of 1964. His Open House flyers and a plate of cookies were still on the kitchen table, untouched. It's absolutely bizarre that no one found him before now."

Captain Dangle is pretty sure twenty four years sets a world Open House record. He plans to contact representatives of Ripley's Believe It Or Not to find out. "Hey maybe they'll come to Melbourne and do a show about it. You just never know."

Disclaimer:  This "News Item" is a work of (comic relief) fiction.  Only the MLS photos are real.  Any resemblance between the characters, persons or Realtors® is purely coincidental.