“You look back and think, I wish I’d asked more, wish I’d understood more,” he told Morley.

As more people came forward and more details emerged, it seemed that her life was shrouded in mystery.

Born on October 19, 1965, in London’s Hammersmith district, Joyce Carol Vincent had worked for the big accounting firm Ernst & Young until she quit in 2001 without giving a reason. Colleagues recalled conflicting stories about her departure. Some said she was traveling with a group of 20 people, others said she had been headhunted for another job.

An article from the Glasgow Herald reported that friends categorized her as someone “who walked out of jobs if she clashed with a colleague, and who moved from one flat to the next all over London. She didn’t answer the phone to her sister and didn’t appear to have her own circle of friends, instead relying on the company of relative strangers who came with the package of a new boyfriend, a colleague, or flatmate.”

It was also revealed that Vincent spent time between her departure from the firm and her death in a home for victims of domestic violence.

As for family, she was the youngest of five sisters but the only one living in the United Kingdom. Her father worked as a carpenter and her mother died when she was just a child.

Joyce Carol Vincent had apparently isolated herself from her family in the years before her death, presumably because of the man she had chosen to date.

While the amount of time that went by after Joyce Vincent’s death continues to be baffling, it’s become clear that the life she seemed to lead didn’t always match up with what was happening beneath the surface.

It’s an ironic and coincidental tale. In the age of social media, where everyone is so connected, the idea that a seemingly average person could remain dead for over two years without anyone raising a question sounds crazy.

But at the same time, just as people have a tendency to post their best selves on social media, it’s possible Joyce Vincent did this in real life. Nobody knows what happens behind closed doors.

Joyce Vincent’s story is as sad as it is strange. People like Martin Lister who knew her and found out about her death wished that they’d had stayed in contact and checked in with her more often. It serves as a reminder that person-to-person communication still has its place and is important.