# Wade Steffey found dead - electrocution was cause of death **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799 "2007-03-21T00:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/21 "2007-03-21T20:18:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] …why he didn’t smell: electricity was running through him the whole time. [/QUOTE] That explains why he didn’t smell _of decomposition,_ at least. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/22 "2007-03-21T20:34:47Z")
I read this on CNN, and was also amazed that someone had checked the room, but something about didn’t walk all the way in because they didn’t want to be near the transformers or something. How far into the room had he stumbled to be not noticeable? And if he walked into the room by mistake, how did the door get closed behind him? I guess it could have been one that closes on its own though. Like everyone else said, way to go, top-notch search teams they had… He was in an unlocked room of his dorm being electrocuted for two months. And no one thought to check there? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/23 "2007-03-21T20:41:25Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] That explains why he didn’t smell _of decomposition,_ at least. 😕 [/QUOTE] Yeah, wouldn’t he smell of, uh, fried? ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/24 "2007-03-22T00:00:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] Got my hands on a copy of the Purdue Exponent and found my answer to why he didn’t smell: electricity was running through him the whole time. He was found when a janitor heard a “popping” noise in the room. [/QUOTE] How does a continuous current prevent it smelling? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/25 "2007-03-22T00:30:06Z")
Would it be that the right electrical flow may get the flesh “cured”, as it were, specially if it’s in a dry environment? Damn this is awful. I feel for the Purdue community and the family. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/26 "2007-03-22T01:27:25Z")
I don’t know about the electricity specifically, but [this article](http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/NEWS0501/703210348) has a few words from a professor of entomology at Purdue: > [@](#): > > Ralph Williams, a Purdue professor of entomology and forensic entomologist, speculated on a couple of reasons why no one noticed an odor earlier, noting that he hadn’t actually examined Steffey’s body. > > Many of the insects that help decompose bodies are not active during the winter, he said. And the dry conditions inside the room might have preserved the body. > > “With low humidity, you get an evaporation of moist body tissue,” Williams said. “That would prevent a decomposition odor.” I confess that I’m morbidly curious, but I don’t feel right about asking about it here. I started up a [GQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8382611#post8382611) thread on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/27 "2007-03-22T03:03:16Z")
What sort of Frankenstein lab was this transformer room? Unless an electrician left a panel off, or a hatch open, there’s normally not any “Casually touch this and die” stuff exposed for someone to bump into. I’ve been in electrical rooms in buildings ranging in size from decrepit 6-flat apartment buildings to 4000-student capacity schools and even a telephone switching office or two, and yes, there are enormous hulking lumps and a pervasive hum and there’s conduits and overhead busways, and panels festooned with lights, switches and meters, but nothing in its normal condition that could shock you if you brushed against it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/28 "2007-03-22T04:44:39Z")
I know I’m going to hell for this, but I keep picturing his last words as “It’s OK, I’m Homer Simps–!” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/29 "2007-03-22T06:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] Got my hands on a copy of the Purdue Exponent and found my answer to why he didn’t smell: electricity was running through him the whole time. [/QUOTE] Will Purdue bill his family for all this wasted electricity? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799/30 "2007-03-22T11:53:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] Anyway, my point is, I don’t understand why no one _smelled_ him before now. I guess it’s a boy’s dorm. That’s why. [/QUOTE] My thoughts exactly. The poor family. At least he died quickly and he will probably come back to haunt future students in that hall, so that is a perk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wade-steffey-found-dead-electrocution-was-cause-of-death/396799.md?page=1)