The Chilling Truth About How Ed Gein Died, and Why His Grave Remains Unmarked

If you’ve ever gone down a true crime rabbit hole, then you’ve probably heard the name Ed Gein. Maybe you read about him in a Reddit thread, maybe you heard his story while watching Psycho or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or maybe you were pulled in by Netflix’s Monster series.

According to History.com, Ed’s story began when he was born on Aug. 27, 1906, and ended when he passed away on July 26, 1984. The question is: How exactly did his story end? How did the man who inspired so many horror movies meet his end?

Turns out, the end of his life was a lot quieter and less horror-filled than what came before. So, how did Ed Gein die? Keep reading for the answer.

After being arrested in 1957 for the murder of Bernice Worden, Ed was declared legally insane and diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to People. He avoided a traditional criminal trial and was instead committed to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Later, he was transferred to the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Wisconsin, where he spent the rest of his life.

You might expect someone like Ed to have spent his final years in chaos or protest — but he didn’t. By all accounts, he lived out the next few decades quietly in psychiatric care, far from the media frenzy and the farmhouse that once horrified the nation. History.com reported that he was ruled competent to stand trial again in 1968, but a judge still found him not guilty by reason of insanity. And that was pretty much it. No interviews. No memoirs. Just silence.

He died on July 26, 1984, at the age of 77. The official cause? Respiratory failure due to cancer. That’s it. No drama. No final words etched in infamy. Just a slow, clinical ending for someone whose life was anything but.

So, where do you bury a man whose name is synonymous with horror? Apparently, right next to his mom.

Gein was laid to rest in Plainfield Cemetery, in a family plot between his mother Augusta and his brother Henry. You’d think that would be the end of the story — but in true Ed Gein fashion, even his grave couldn’t escape morbid curiosity.

Almost immediately, visitors started vandalizing his headstone. People chipped away pieces of it, treating them like twisted souvenirs. By the year 2000, according to People Magazine, the entire 150-pound stone had vanished. Completely gone. Authorities at the time suspected it may have been stolen for occult reasons or maybe even sold online because other Ed Gein-related artifacts (even dirt from his property) had reportedly been listed on eBay.

Today, his grave is unmarked. There’s just a patch of grass where his headstone once stood. And yet, people still go. TikTok videos show users visiting the site, leaving behind flowers, or just filming themselves in hushed astonishment. It’s weird. It’s uncomfortable. It, however, speaks volumes about the way some stories never die.

Even decades after his death, his story keeps resurfacing. Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story is just the latest in a long line of rehashing his story.