# Three men freeze to death in a friend's backyard and aren't found for three days **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2024, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151 "2024-01-16T06:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/21 "2024-01-16T17:11:44Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Some 160 miles away in Newton, KS: Ha, I used to live there. 😃 (Never had moonshine there though, only in Tennessee.) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/22 "2024-01-16T18:24:35Z")
Isn’t removing clothing the classic symptom of hyperthermia? They think they’re hot just before dying. > [@](#): > > Munchalfen was found wearing a t-shirt, jeans, shoes and socks. A sweater, stocking cap and scarf were located near her, according to the Grundy County Coroner’s Office. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/23 "2024-01-16T19:03:13Z")
They didn’t just get too drunk and wake up dead, sheesh. It’s a suburban backyard, they didn’t fall off an iceberg. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/24 "2024-01-16T19:47:49Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Furious Friends and Family sounds like a retro cellphone plan. It’s the first in a knockoff franchise starring Pitbull, Triple H, Nina Dobrev, Jai Courtney, Adrianne Palicki, and Ronda Rousey about a group of car thieves who hijack a secret Chinese spaceplane in order to intercept North Korean terrorists led by Hapkido master Steven Seagal intent on destroying the International Space Station. Gary Busey has a cameo as US President Pappas who goes on an unhinged rant about the liberal agenda and BIBLE (“Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth”) and then signs off with the catchphrase, "I will rip our your spleen and eat it like a banana!” (This wasn’t actually in the script and Busey wasn’t even supposed to be in the movie but he just wandered on set one day and started ranting, and director Uwe Boll just edited it into the movie.) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/25 "2024-01-16T21:07:20Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > They didn’t just get too drunk and wake up dead, sheesh. It’s a suburban backyard, they didn’t fall off an iceberg. Yeah, it’s not like they were trapped there. And surely one of them had his car key in his pocket. They would have had to be pretty damn drunk not to think of sitting in a car at least. Of course, we will never know what they were thinking. The toxicology report should be of some help. Opioids could have knocked them out. It’s just strange that whatever it was happened to all three at apparently the same time. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/26 "2024-01-16T21:25:20Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > They didn’t just get too drunk and wake up dead, sheesh. It’s a suburban backyard, they didn’t fall off an iceberg. I mean that is completely plausible, in freezing temperatures anything that makes you lie still for any length of time is lethal. Cases like the one posted above, where someone decides to walk home drunk (or otherwise inebriated) and freezes to death (presumably after sitting down for “just a minute”) are very common. Its less plausible that they should all get drunk enough to lie still and freeze to death at the same time in someones back garden (and their friend who’s garden it is doesn’t check on them for three days!) As other posters have pointed out some kind of opioid being involved would explain the facts more plausibly. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/27 "2024-01-16T21:25:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Munchalfen had > tried walking home from a friends house. From the article: “She was inadequately dressed for the frigid weather, wearing only a t-shirt, jeans, and shoes, with additional clothing items found nearby.” Sounds like [paradoxical undressing.] Strange that the article didn’t mention it. (["Terminal burrowing behaviour"--a phenomenon of lethal hypothermia - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7632602/#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20the%20common,effecting%20a%20feeling%20of%20warmth.)) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/28 "2024-01-16T21:36:27Z")
Did anyone else open this thread thinking it might be a joke? Three men walk into a bar… ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/29 "2024-01-16T22:06:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve read news about people found passed out in their cars from opiods. That’s probably what happened with the 3 men in the backyard. That’s it, case solved. You can’t argue with that. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/30 "2024-01-16T22:33:32Z")
Many people that posted have speculated that drugs were involved. I agreed. It is odd that all 3 were too incapacitated to call for help. No information was provided about the yard fencing. Maybe the gate was padlocked? It’s very strange. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/31 "2024-01-16T22:40:09Z")
I’m seriously questioning whether it was accidental, but I can be the suspicious type. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/32 "2024-01-16T23:18:51Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > No information was provided about the yard fencing. Maybe the gate was padlocked? [here](https://www.kmbc.com/article/3-dead-bodies-northland-home-backyard-identified/46367048): > [@](#): > > A tall, wooden fence surrounds the backyard, with gate access on both sides of the front of the home. The north part of the backyard fence runs along Northwest Barry Road with no gate access and no sidewalk on that side of Barry. > > “Not much goes on. It’s pretty quiet. So, this is obviously a shock for any neighborhood, but especially ours,” Charlie Brook, 18, who’s lived in “The Coves” his whole life, said. No mention of locks. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/33 "2024-01-16T23:22:47Z")
That sounds like a accident waiting to happen. It’ll be interesting to see if more details come out. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/34 "2024-01-16T23:37:47Z")
The weather that day was near 0°F, and the men had almost certainly been drinking. Just plain ethanol does a body no favors in hard cold. At that temperature, they could have been incapacitated within half an hour. ---
**Author:** ![loriloolee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@loriloolee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loriloolee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/35 "2024-01-17T02:11:59Z")
Why wouldn’t they try breaking a window to get inside? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/36 "2024-01-17T02:14:41Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That sounds like a accident waiting to happen. Well, not waiting any longer. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/37 "2024-01-17T02:20:18Z")
I wonder if they went outside to smoke? If they were drunk, a cigar might have taken long enough to cloud their judgement, and if it was pot, even more so. Does pot affect your cold tolerance/awareness? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/38 "2024-01-17T03:02:32Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That sounds like a accident waiting to happen. > > It’ll be interesting to see if more details come out. You think a fence around a backyard is “an accident waiting to happen”? Probably 75% of all suburban houses in the USA have a fence around the back yard. Color me baffled. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/39 "2024-01-17T03:21:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Isn’t removing clothing the classic symptom of hyperthermia? Hypothermia. Hyperthermia is abnormally HIGH body temperature. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/40 "2024-01-17T04:01:13Z")
D’oh Thank you for the correction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151.md?page=3)