# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/81 "2015-07-12T02:10:00Z")
I’m out in the hammock now; I’m guessing my wife would notice in an hour or so that I’m not coming back in. The dog’s outside, so she might smell death. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/82 "2015-07-12T03:34:21Z")
27 minutes tops right now. Threw a new parental control on the router and it shuts everything off then. I expect the teenagers will be by as I didn’t tell them about it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/83 "2015-07-12T04:01:12Z")
Right now **Suburban Plankton** is sitting 6 ft from me. I hope he would notice immediately. If the Giants manage to suddenly tie up the game, I might actually die of surprise, and it might take him a moment to two to notice. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/84 "2015-07-12T15:24:23Z")
I have a tendency to go on a drive, then go on a walk from there. No idea where I’m going to end up, so therefore cannot tell my wife where I’m going. If I dropped on one of those walks, my wife would know something was wrong within a couple hours, but finding my body??? Could be days. We’ve discussed this, I’m against changing my pattern for that slim possibility. Maybe when I’m older. I’m 45, my father started having heart related events in his early 40’s. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/85 "2015-07-12T15:33:17Z")
Maybe a month and a half? I’m currently in a foreign country subletting a place, and paid up till the end of August when I’m supposed to leave. So at that point, someone will probably come in to clean the place or something. My parents/family might start worrying why I haven’t called them in a couple weeks, but I realized that no one actually knows my exact address. Panic mode might set in about 3-4 weeks, but I’m not sure how they’d find me. They have my cell phone number, so they could probably do some triangulation of my last location. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/86 "2015-07-12T20:12:52Z")
My wife has been out of town for two weeks, but she’s driving home this afternoon, and is, in theory, about 3 hours out. So, most likely, the answer is, “3 hours from now.” If she didn’t show, then I (obviously) wouldn’t be going in to work tomorrow. This’d get noticed, they’d try (and fail) to reach me on my cell and home phones. I figure someone would come by to do a wellness check by the end of the day tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/87 "2015-07-12T21:15:34Z")
> [@qubed](#): > > Maybe a month and a half? I’m currently in a foreign country subletting a place, and paid up till the end of August when I’m supposed to leave. So at that point, someone will probably come in to clean the place or something. > > My parents/family might start worrying why I haven’t called them in a couple weeks, but I realized that no one actually knows my exact address. Panic mode might set in about 3-4 weeks, but I’m not sure how they’d find me. They have my cell phone number, so they could probably do some triangulation of my last location. Um…dude, you ought to do something about that! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/88 "2015-07-12T21:49:21Z")
I am in a hotel room a couple of hundred miles from home. Housekeeping would likely find me slumped ovefr my laptop sometime tomorrow afternoon ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/89 "2015-07-13T03:26:18Z")
Instantly. My partner will hear the thump since I’m on the treadmill. With luck, the cat won’t devour me faster than the speed of sound. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/90 "2015-07-13T14:38:31Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Instantly. My partner will hear the thump since I’m on the treadmill. You can read a computer screen \*and \* type a post while you’re on the treadmill? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/91 "2015-07-13T14:50:26Z")
Right now? My colleague 7 feet away would likely notice. I hope. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/92 "2015-07-14T20:39:35Z")
Right this moment, I’m sitting in my office at work, so I assume a colleague would notice within a few minutes – how ever long it took before someone walked by and glanced in to see me slumped over my desk. If I died at home on the weekend, it would be at least until late the next workday before my office realized I wasn’t coming in, hadn’t contacted anyone, and wasn’t responding to calls, texts or emails. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/93 "2015-07-14T21:07:26Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > Right this moment, I’m sitting in my office at work, so I assume a colleague would notice within a few minutes – how ever long it took before someone walked by and glanced in to see me slumped over my desk. > > If I died at home on the weekend, it would be at least until late the next workday before my office realized I wasn’t coming in, hadn’t contacted anyone, and wasn’t responding to calls, texts or emails. I was diagnosed with diabetes by collapsing in the doctor’s office, from where I was rushed to the hospital to linger in unconsciousness for days. This happened on a Friday afternoon. I’ve always figured that, if I’d been home that afternoon, I’d have died. Because of the flexibility of my schedule – I could work whatever hours I wanted, as long as i got my 40 in between Monday and Friday – it would have been at least Tuesday before anyone in my office got concerned. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/94 "2015-07-14T21:10:58Z")
My wife is 25 feet away from me in another room so she’d probably find me before very long. But my dog is lying by my side. . . just _waiting._ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/95 "2015-07-15T05:25:48Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > What’s the longest you’d remain unfound if you dropped dead right then and there at the computer? I’m guessing for most “longest time” would be, at most, a few hours. Since my spouse is currently sitting about 3 feet away from me I’d like to think that if I abruptly dropped dead he’d notice more or less immediately, or at least within a minute when my limp body crashes to the floor, or goes head first into the keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/96 "2015-07-15T06:42:51Z")
I’m at work too and it’s coming up knock off time so I’d expect no more than 10 minutes for someone to spot me face down on the keyboard. If I croaked at home in the lounge room, depending on what time it happened anywhere up to 12 hours before the daughter saw me. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/97 "2015-07-15T07:54:54Z")
I’d be noticed in the morning, when the rest of the household wakes up. I’m still creeped out at how one of our reclusive neighbors died this winter and was there for six weeks before anyone noticed. And these are townhouses, ten feet from the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/98 "2015-07-15T12:46:16Z")
I would guess a day or two. I live alone and work from home. It’s difficult to say what my work colleagues would do if I wasn’t answering my phone, wasn’t active on Lync, and not answering urgent emails. Would it occur to them to try and check up on me? And if so, how? I can imagine a scenario where folk in my local pub would go “has anyone seen Scougs around? She didn’t say she was going any where…” but would it be enough to get the police to break the door down? I guess lack of Facebook postings or activity would be the real giveaway for most, but again, it could take two or three days. After a horrible recent experience where a close friend of mine was found dead at home and I realised I didn’t have a single contact number for any of his family, at least I now have an envelope in the top of my desk drawer with all the info anyone who has just found me would need. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/99 "2015-07-15T14:07:08Z")
My toddler is sitting on my lap and my 7 year old is less than ten feet away. Pretty frickin fast. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-suddenly-die-right-now-whats-the-potentially-longest-time-before-someone-finds-your-body/724648/100 "2015-07-15T18:18:03Z")
Some time tomorrow morning. I drive a taxi and have a ride with a blind autistic man in the morning. If I don’t pick him up at 8, his mother will complain, my boss will get the complaint, he will call me and will send another driver to check up on me when I don’t answer. I have been send to other of his employees in like cases, so I know he worries. [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=4) [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=6)