# You suddenly die right now. What's the (potentially) longest time before someone finds your body? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 9, 2015, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648 "2015-07-09T08:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/41 "2015-07-09T16:19:19Z")
A couple of minutes, when the wife comes out of the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/42 "2015-07-09T16:21:28Z")
I’m at work right now, so if I dropped dead right here, I’d say the longest I could be undiscovered would be about 4 hours when my officemate pops his head in to say goodbye for the day. Shortest time could be about 2 seconds if he heard a thud or something and got up to investigate. If I was at home, it depends on what day of the week it is, but I think I could go missing for at least 4 days before anyone raised any sort of alarm. Even then, it might be another couple of days while my boss/coworkers messaged me a number of times before they finally decide to drive over to my house and bang on the door/call the cops/whathaveyou. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/43 "2015-07-09T16:24:43Z")
Might be 2 or 3 weeks before I was found. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/44 "2015-07-09T16:36:30Z")
Instantly. Surrounded by the fam almost all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/45 "2015-07-09T16:42:59Z")
I’m sitting at my desk at work, so I can’t imagine it would take long. Outside of work, I have a family, so it still wouldn’t take long. About the longest possible window would be overnight, if I died late at night, and my wife had already gone to bed. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/46 "2015-07-09T17:01:54Z")
Minutes if at work, maybe 72 hours if at home (another lone ranger here), or a bit longer if I happened to pop my clogs on a Friday night. In all cases it would most likely be my employer who noticed first, but I can work out of any of three widely scattered offices, so it might take a while for them to realize I wasn’t at any of them. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/47 "2015-07-09T17:21:18Z")
Right now? As soon as the guy in the cube across from me turns around and notices that I’m slumped over in a very strange way. If I’d died suddenly at the time of the OP (4:33am here on the East Coast), probably about an hour and a half until my wife woke up and wondered why I wasn’t already up and moving. Can’t think of a time when my death wouldn’t be noticed within a few hours at most. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/48 "2015-07-09T17:26:25Z")
At first I thought 10 minutes. The co-worker down the hall would eventually wander over to tell me something. But then I thought, he might just yell that he’s leaving, and if he didn’t hear anything back from me, would just assume I left already. But there’s a big event at the office tonight, and people will start arriving around 5ish, so I suppose someone would find me in about 3.5 hours or so. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/49 "2015-07-09T17:41:59Z")
I have four small children, ages 4-9, that are home for summer break. I’ll say 30 seconds. Maaaaybe one minute. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/50 "2015-07-09T17:46:37Z")
Right now? Well, I’m meeting friends in a few hours and I hope they would become concerned if I didn’t show and didn’t respond to calls or texts, but … if they didn’t, or if I died tomorrow instead of right now, it could be quite a while before anyone noticed. (My parents, probably, next time they called and left a message and didn’t get a reply, but they live in another state.) Great. Now I’m all freaked out. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/51 "2015-07-09T18:02:53Z")
I’ve decided that, at my age, the considerate thing for me to do is to sleep in a body bag. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/52 "2015-07-09T18:06:34Z")
There’s currently 6 other people in the room with me. If anyone talks to me and I don’t answer, that’s pretty much it. So . . . 10 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/53 "2015-07-09T18:10:05Z")
It depends on how long it takes my co-pilot to wake up from his nap. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/54 "2015-07-09T18:36:29Z")
For me it would be less than twenty four hours. I have to work tomorrow., and my workplace knows the number or my mother. When I don’t show up for work they’d start calling around. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/55 "2015-07-09T19:05:14Z")
It could be awhile. I live alone, and I work in K-12, so I’m off work for the summer. My parents live 20 minutes away but they wouldn’t start getting concerned until it had been over a week without any contact. During the school year, failing to show up for work and not giving any notice ahead of time would trigger concern a lot faster. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/56 "2015-07-09T19:24:51Z")
As soon as Mum’s finished icing the cake, give her a few minutes. If I was in my own house, potentially days. Depends how angsty Mum and my ex/daughter’s mum get about me not answering texts during the week. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/57 "2015-07-09T19:28:38Z")
Well, I’m at work right now. I am in a back cubicle, though, so if no co-workers come to speak to me, maybe no one would notice before 5:00. But there’s cleaning staff that come around and empty garbage cans, so they’d find me. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/58 "2015-07-09T20:02:31Z")
Right this very second? I’m at work and within 10 minutes the person I walk to the train with will be by to pick me up for the walk to the train. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/59 "2015-07-09T20:08:07Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > It depends on how long it takes my co-pilot to wake up from his nap. Shouldn’t you be focusing on flying the plane instead of surfing the dope? ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/60 "2015-07-09T23:03:16Z")
Right now, I’m at work so it would be pretty quick. But if it happened at home, It could be weeks. That scares me. I live alone with 6 dogs and a cat. Never have visitors, no one ever calls. I suppose if I just stopped coming into work, my manager might call to check up on me. _Might_. I have thought about this many times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648.md?page=4)