Abstract

This paper presents the circumstances surrounding the retrieval and subsequent autopsies of four bodies accidentally discovered weighted down in Missouri's lakes. The bodies, representing four separate cases of homicide, were sunken for a period of three weeks to ten months. The relationship of adipocere formation to the postmortem interval and the problems of injury interpretation are discussed.

Issue Section:
Research Papers
Keywords:
pathology and biology, submerged bodies, decomposition, homicide, postmortem interval

References

1.
Spitz
,
W. U.
 and
Fisher
,
R. S.
, Eds.,
Medicolegal Investigation of Death
,
Charles C Thomas
,
Springfield, IL
,
1980
, p. 23.
2.
Facts Sheet, Conservation Department, State of Missouri.
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