Decomp smell **REVISIT**

[treeseeker]

My own experience has been in a hospital morgue setting, not with major decomp exposed to the elements. I will say deceased humans have a distinct odor. I speculate that humans have an innate ability to detect it, and since its emotional to see/detect a deceased human, it makes it more powerful - emotion associated with scent.

That said, at first whiff, dead animals smell very similar. MOO

 

[momtective]

Excellent article "The Fake smell of death"
http://www.nasw.org/users/JSachs/smellofdeath.rtf.

 

[kgeaux]

Excellent article "The Fake smell of death"
http://www.nasw.org/users/JSachs/smellofdeath.rtf.

That was a VERY interesting article! Too funny about the dog that started to alert on plastic ziplock baggies! A wealth of info in that article, thanks for posting it!

 

[momtective]

That was a VERY interesting article! Too funny about the dog that started to alert on plastic ziplock baggies! A wealth of info in that article, thanks for posting it!

Bump, bump

 

[Brini]

Did Casey cut her hair during the time she is unaccounted for...Does the decomp smell cause someone to do that if they have been exposed to the odor for hours on end?

Good question. Hair absorbs odors easily. But, don't strong odors also wash out easily?

I used to be a dancer in nightclub stage shows. My hair would absorb so much tobacco smoke, that the wash water turned dark. But, it always washed right out.

 

[SleuthyGal]

She didn't shave her head though...if the smell permeated her hair to that extent that she couldn't wash the smell out no matter what she did then a haircut would not have gotten it all out since she still had exposed hair that had been there during the time of the car ride/body dump.

 

[Brini]

I have wonder this as well... I would think of the tow co owner knew what a dead body smelled like (found in 400 pg docs) then he would have reported that to the police.
I also wonder why (even though he has 10 days to notify) WHY did he not notify Cindy Anthony by lets say the 5th of June.. or by the 10th of June. Why 16 days later was the Anthony's notified that the car was at the tow yard???

I read (can't remember source) that the tow company sent a couple of previous notices. The As said they were not recieved.

Anybody pick up the mail, while GA and CA were out?

 

[Brini]

She didn't shave her head though...if the smell permeated her hair to that extent that she couldn't wash the smell out no matter what she did then a haircut would not have gotten it all out since she still had exposed hair that had been there during the time of the car ride/body dump.

Would a dye job erase the smell?

 

[JBean]

I read (can't remember source) that the tow company sent a couple of previous notices. The As said they were not recieved.

Anybody pick up the mail, while GA and CA were out?

IIRC, the tow yard sent the letter certified and a signature was required for delivery. The mailperson left a notice for the letter on the front door, because there was no one home. but the Anthony's typically go in through the garage so they missed the notice for a time.
When they finally saw theotice, they had to go pick up the notice at the PO.

 

[Brini]

IIRC, the tow yard sent the letter certified and a signature was required for delivery. The mailperson left a notice for the letter on the front door, because there was no one home. but the Anthony's typically go in through the garage so they missed the notice for a time.
When they finally saw theotice, they had to go pick up the notice at the PO.

I see. Thanks! I think you jogged my memory.

 

[It'sME]

Would a dye job erase the smell?

As a retired hairstylist, yes color, perms etc would erase smells and take away some coatings on the hair.

But....hair will only smell until it is washed, it does not absorb like a sponge would. I have had once a week customers, the little shampoo set ladies and I could tell what they cooked that week for dinner, but after it was shampooed you no longer smelled it.

 

[cacnotcam]

As a retired hairstylist, yes color, perms etc would erase smells and take away some coatings on the hair.

But....hair will only smell until it is washed, it does not absorb like a sponge would. I have had once a week customers, the little shampoo set ladies and I could tell what they cooked that week for dinner, but after it was shampooed you no longer smelled it.

WOW!

 

[magic-cat]

She didn't shave her head though...if the smell permeated her hair to that extent that she couldn't wash the smell out no matter what she did then a haircut would not have gotten it all out since she still had exposed hair that had been there during the time of the car ride/body dump.

Are we all forgetting that Casey dearest always tucks her hair inside of a cute little hat, thus providing nearly complete protection for most of her hair. I daresay in THIS case, she may have stuffed it all inside of a hat. I would not be suprised if one of her purchases was not a mask of some kind to cover her face, or at least noseplugs, which she could have picked up very inexpensively...

 

[magic-cat]

I read (can't remember source) that the tow company sent a couple of previous notices. The As said they were not recieved.

Anybody pick up the mail, while GA and CA were out?

The car was towed in on day 3 from Amscott-June 30th. The Anthony's HAD received the notice on July 11th-it was put in their front door, which they never use, and they did not find it until the 13th. They could not make it to the PO on the 14th, and did on the 15th and that is when they discovered the car had been towed. The tow yard followed their standard procedure, and there was a holiday-4th of July-which would have been a one day delay on everything...

 

[Unsolved]

I always thought it was strange that Casey took a shower at JG's apartment. Maybe due to the smell?

 

[frankieiiiieee]

In the building where I lease my office spaces, we had something die in between the walls or above the ceilings. It was the vilest thing I've ever smelled and my landlord and the exterminator tried everything to get rid of the odor. It lingered for weeks. I even asked my landlord if he thought a burgler could have come in from the roof and died up there in the space above the ceiling. The exterminator finally said he thought it was a dead rat because he saw some signs of rats on the roof. The building is in an industrial area. My question is, would the smell of a dead human body be about the same or even worse? If the answer is worse, I can't even imagine it because this smell was the most horrible thing I've ever smelled. Does anyone know the answer?

ugh that reminds me of when I was younger we had a class in a building that was infested with huge scary rats :yuck: so they decided to put some poison up in the walls and kill them....OMG we couldn't even stand to have class in there anymore!!!!!!! The smell never went away and they had to eventually tear down the whole building bc it was considered a health hazard!? wow it was bad and it smelled pretty unforgettable....would rats smell anything like a human? I mean rats eat pretty much anything people do...idk but had to share ^_^

 

[Nore]

I am sorry I haven't read through the whole thread to see if this was discussed....

But, if they found maggots, could they not test those maggots to see what they had been feeding on (ie dna??)

I seem to remember that entomologists have studied soil sample where a body has been found and they could examine the insects and such in that area and some are that are known to feed on human remains can be tested and they can determine how long the remains had been there and such. (maybe I have read too many crime novels.

So is it possible they were able to do some test on the maggots found and possibly this is the "cutting edge" test they were talking about on NG???

--------------------
Yes they can study the maggots,Blowflies etc.and even tell how long (appro.) a person has been dead. This is all explained at the BodyFarm website.It is a very interesting read.They can withdraw DNA..

 

[AutomaticAuttie]

I have a question, do you think one could tell the difference between human decomp and animal decomp? The reason I ask is because this past week I had to help my 7th grade son with his insect project for science. He had collected about 18 insects and had to keep them frozen to preserve them until he could mount them on a board. He took them all out of the freezer one week from this past Thursday and took them school for that week. And this past Thursday he brought them home so we mount the insects on a board. I have to say not only does my office still smell, I had to where a mask just to help him to keep for throwing up. I have never smelled anything like it! It was by far the worst smell I have ever encountered.

 

[darlin gal]

A police officer, a nurse and a homicide investigator knows the difference. So does properly trained cadaver dogs.

 

[RR0004]

I have a question, do you think one could tell the difference between human decomp and animal decomp? The reason I ask is because this past week I had to help my 7th grade son with his insect project for science. He had collected about 18 insects and had to keep them frozen to preserve them until he could mount them on a board. He took them all out of the freezer one week from this past Thursday and took them school for that week. And this past Thursday he brought them home so we mount the insects on a board. I have to say not only does my office still smell, I had to where a mask just to help him to keep for throwing up. I have never smelled anything like it! It was by far the worst smell I have ever encountered.

What they say is true...there is NOTHING like it!!