# So you've found a dead body... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2010, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324 "2010-03-30T11:15:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/41 "2010-04-01T14:01:17Z")
The only one I (and my kids) found was relatively fresh and in the middle of a river. We were mildy thrilled when the newpare wrote about us and referred to us as the proverbial “hikers in the woods.” 😉 It turns out the guy was wading across the small river when his feet got stuck in the mud, and he died of exposure. When we found him, he was standing up and bent forward at the waist, so all we could see was the back of his blue shirt. I didn’t know what it was. At first I thought it was one of those blue plastic barrels for floating docks, or a sandbag. So I wanted to toss some rocks at it to see what it sounded like. The only rocks around were larger than my fist, so I lobbed a couple and hit it with a solid “thump.” I thuoght I saw the back of a head on one end, so I thought it was a scarecrow (it was a week or so after Halloween.) Then I tossed a rock that landed in the water right next to the head, and the face bobbed up pretty clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/42 "2010-04-01T14:15:52Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > The only one I (and my kids) found was relatively fresh and in the middle of a river. We were mildy thrilled when the newpare wrote about us and referred to us as the proverbial “hikers in the woods.” 😉 > . :eek: Do you mean when you found him he was actually standing up, or he died standing up and had fallen? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/43 "2010-04-01T15:24:58Z")
Most? Still warm but clearly dead. If it was a murder the killer could be close enough and nervous enough to take umbrage at me making the discovery. Anything from early decomp on is more interesting than horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/44 "2010-04-01T16:22:45Z")
I found a guy floating in the Mississippi that had been in the water for 4 months, but the water had only recently warmed up enough for him to float up to the surface. And was the first one on the scene of a car accident where the woman lost consciousness in my arms, and she died later in the hospital. I’d take the floating body any day over anything like that car accident again. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/45 "2010-04-01T17:40:03Z")
Most to least: Body of someone dead for hours Body of someone dead for weeks Skeleton Mummified body I think seeing someone’s face clearly would disturb me more than someone who had been laying around for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/46 "2010-04-01T20:00:55Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Oh yeah? What if the skeleton or the mummy were dancing? Did you ever think about that? Clearly you’ve never been to a Grateful Dead show. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/47 "2010-04-01T20:18:06Z")
This is gradually turning into “Tell me about when you found the body”. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/48 "2010-04-01T21:11:36Z")
Actually, none of these would gross me out. I’m a member of our local “[chevra kadisha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevra_kadisha),” or Jewish burial group. One of our main tasks is to ritually wash and prepare a body for burial. I’ve worked on some bodies in various “interesting” conditions. This includes one elderly gentleman who wandered away from home and died; his body was found 5 days later after being out in 90+ degree heat. Some of us worked with tissue stuffed tightly into our nostrils. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/49 "2010-04-01T22:24:25Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Hmmm…well, it depends. What kind of “mummified” are we talking about, here? Like “wrapped up, tastefully, in a peaceful pose, and jutting out of a sand dune,” or “John Torrington”? It’s a dead guy in the woods. Who do you think would have wrapped him up tastefully? google “mummified remains” as an image search if you need a visual. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/50 "2010-04-01T22:44:57Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It’s a dead guy in the woods. Who do you think would have wrapped him up tastefully? google “mummified remains” as an image search if you need a visual. How does it get mummified out in the woods? Wouldn’t it just rot? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/51 "2010-04-01T22:47:18Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > You’re taking a walk in some out of the way place, and discover a body. Well, it ain’t as bad as taking a _leak_ in some out of way place and discovering a body. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/52 "2010-04-01T23:57:33Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > How does it get mummified out in the woods? Wouldn’t it just rot? Nah, cold can cause mummification too, like those Andes mummies or that baby mammoth they found. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/53 "2010-04-02T00:30:40Z")
The famous ‘Otzi the Iceman’, 5300-year-old mummy, was found by hikers - his head and shoulders were poking out of a glacier in the woods. They thought he was the victim of a modern murderer at first. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/54 "2010-04-02T04:01:56Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Somebody’s who’s been dead for 5 seconds… I worked in a mortuary once, and when the director brought back a body of someone who’d died under a doctor’s care (without need of a coroner investigation), he sometimes needed help moving the heavier bodies, and they were usually still warm. I can say that, for me, the “fresh” bodies were much preferable to handle than the cold, stiff, embalmed bodies. Those just seemed so _ **inorganic** _. Once I was asked to put a wedding ring on a body lying in state, and it was had to get on, because the hands were so inflexibly cupped together. All I could think of was all of those foul-smelling chemicals saturating the person’s flesh. That’s what grossed me out the most. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324/55 "2010-04-02T16:59:15Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > Do you mean when you found him he was actually standing up, or he died standing up and had fallen? The water was about waist deep. He was standing up with his feet stuck in the mud, facing away from us, bent forward at the waist. So all we saw at first was his back clad in a blue workshirt. His arms and head were hanging down below the surface of the very muddy water. His head didn’t start bobbing up and down until I started lobbing chunks of concrete at it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youve-found-a-dead-body/534324.md?page=2)