Decomp smell **REVISIT**

[Fuzzymuffin]

For people interested in the science of decomp, there is this National Geographic special video I found online.

**WARNING** Not for the squeamish people.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com...-human-body-sci/human-body/body-farm-sci.html

 

[eve]

When my brother was found dead, which was about 2.5 days after he actually died (massive heart attack), and then another day or so for the autopsy, the funeral home was unable to do a regular embalming due to collapsed arteries, etc. so all they could do was a 'topical' application of embalming solution. My mother was worried about any potential odor so she instructed the funeral home to put an empty casket in the room for the service and already have his real casket loaded into their hearse. No one except our family knew he wasn't really in the one at the funeral home service as there was no viewing. It was very surreal watching people come up and say a prayer to what was in reality an empty casket.

Hi SleuthyGal,

I've just been lurking on this thread but had to add that last December my brother died on a Tuesday and wasn't found until Saturday, by my other brother. It was Fl, so warm. The bio-hazard-cleaner type people had to remove everything from the room in which he died. It was a head injury, but I suspect blood wasn't the only reason. All the furniture had to be replaced, even the closet doors, and it had to be re-carpeted and re-painted. It smells fine now, BTW.

My poor brother will not talk much about finding him, and I cannot bear to ask details. I do know he said he knew our brother was dead when he got out of the car in the driveway and when he said that, I don't think he meant he had a premonition, although I think he also had a strong "feeling" that way, too.

The funeral home did embalm him prior to his cremation, just so my parents could view him (they had to travel, so several more days went by, too) and they have actually said they regretted it because of the way he looked My mother said she just had to see him, though, regrets or not.

This is a hard thread for me...

Eve

 

[SleuthyGal]

eve, so sorry about your brother. That would be horrific under any circumstances. When my mother went to clean out my brother's apt and sort the clothes, etc. she said there was no odor that she could detect. He died in the wintertime in PA so that probably made some difference even though he was in a heated apt. Humidity would have been very low at that point. Plus it was the police who found him--my parents were in FL at the time and I was living in NC. I would have FREAKED out, so it's good that I wasn't right there. I'm squeamish just seeing a dead animal on the side of the road. ugh.

 

[LCoastMom]

During the Winter a stray cat had found it's way under our porch.It obviously had gone under there to warm up some.
The dryer exhaust sends out warm air when the dryer is going.
Anyway,
as I was decending the steps near the porch, a strong awful smell was hitting my nose.
it is a smell like no other.
only way to describe it is overwhelmingly strong. intense.
I then proceeded to follow where the smell was most strong.
Under a stack of wood was the dead cat.
It was there for I do not know how long ?
So judging the length of time it took for it to begin decaying enough to smell in cold weather, I could not say.
But I do know that little cat smelled nasty under there.I was glad for the chilly days of Winter, that at least kept the flies away.
my husband had a hard time finding a good spot to lay the poor thing to rest,the ground was mostly frozen.
So, if a human smells worse than that poor dead cat, well....the car Casey had that the dog hit on, and the yard is understandable.
We had that yucky smell there for a long time...
it permiated the soil it was dead on.
So that is the only way I know the smell of death from...
And I really doubt food could do that unless it was raw meat to begin with...

The hotel I stayed at last week in Tucson (AZ) was being remodeled, to get to the lobby I had to walk behind the restaurant where the dumpsters are kept. The smell was one of the worst I've encountered (I'll never eat there!),
but it still was no where near the smell of human decomp.

 

[Amity]

For people interested in the science of decomp, there is this National Geographic special video I found online.

**WARNING** Not for the squeamish people.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com...-human-body-sci/human-body/body-farm-sci.html

FuzzyWuzzy...ooopsy, I mean FuzzyMuffin ,

Thank you so very much for that link.
I don't get squeamish over much ......film/videos of animals or babies being abused make me vomit but the link to National Geographic was sooooo interesting, so educational for me I just wanted to say thank you for posting it.
I don't get any of the Good Discovery Channels or National Geographic channels and I didn't know this link to their videos was available.

 

[Amity]

The hotel I stayed at last week in Tucson (AZ) was being remodeled, to get to the lobby I had to walk behind the restaurant where the dumpsters are kept. The smell was one of the worst I've encountered (I'll never eat there!),
but it still was no where near the smell of human decomp.

I've smelled a fresh body as it was burning...sour/sweet....I'll never forget it.
I've also smelled bodies in the beginning stages of embalming.
I didn't much like that either!

I've smelled the decomp of a large racoon that had died in our garage rafters and going into the garage one day after several days of 103 degree temps, it was a smell that about knocked me over and it took a couple days before I could get that smell out of my nose.

All this to say ..... I can't even begin to imagine what a decomp body smells like, nor do I hope to ever find out.

 

[Amity]

Dearest Eve and SleuthyGal,

I am soooo, soooo sorry for your losses, truly sorry.
In time, I'm hoping the good memories will replace the bad for you both.
My heart goes out to you.

 

[sabego]

Last night I watched Dr G, Medical Examiner. She is in Orlando. Found a guy dead in his van. All the windows rolled up. She stated that in Florida, hot weather and such, the smell would be horrible after only 2 days. His death was meth related.

 

[SleuthyGal]

Dearest Eve and SleuthyGal,

I am soooo, soooo sorry for your losses, truly sorry.
In time, I'm hoping the good memories will replace the bad for you both.
My heart goes out to you.

Thank you Amity. My brother is truly in a 'better' place than what his life was in this incarnation. In his particular case I feel the universe demonstrated it's ultimate wisdom and proper order and took care of him. And believe it or not, I'm grateful for that!

 

[Maui4me]

My hubby and I have left instructions for no viewing or funeral and we are to be cremated. After we are both gone, they are to spread our ashes over Maui. We want them to have a big party in our remembrance. Before my daughter died she insisted there be no black at her funeral. I work a purple suit.

 

[SleuthyGal]

My hubby and I have left instructions for no viewing or funeral and we are to be cremated. After we are both gone, they are to spread our ashes over Maui. We want them to have a big party in our remembrance. Before my daughter died she insisted there be no black at her funeral. I work a purple suit.

I applaud that, Maui. (So sorry about your daughter).

 

[strach304]

Caylee wouldn't have had to be in the back yard dead or the trunk for the dogs to have hit there. Anything that came in contact with the body would do it. For instance a blanket that Caylee was wrapped up in and saturated with decomp fluids would do it. I'm using a more extreme example for the trunk since it was stinking so bad. That trash bag with the maggots may have originally held an item of that nature that was thrown away in the Amscott dumpster for instance.

 

[Fuzzymuffin]

FuzzyWuzzy...ooopsy, I mean FuzzyMuffin ,

Thank you so very much for that link.
I don't get squeamish over much ......film/videos of animals or babies being abused make me vomit but the link to National Geographic was sooooo interesting, so educational for me I just wanted to say thank you for posting it.
I don't get any of the Good Discovery Channels or National Geographic channels and I didn't know this link to their videos was available.

Hiya Amity! :wave:

You might enjoy this if you don't have access to a lot of cable shows: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/animal-witness/index.html

I wish it was more videos but the info on the involvement of animals in solving cases is very interesting.

 

[Angelray]

This gives some good info on changes in the body upon death.
*WARNING* Dont read if you have weak stomach..


http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2005-04/1114460899.Gb.r.html

 

[eve]

eve, so sorry about your brother. That would be horrific under any circumstances. When my mother went to clean out my brother's apt and sort the clothes, etc. she said there was no odor that she could detect. He died in the wintertime in PA so that probably made some difference even though he was in a heated apt. Humidity would have been very low at that point. Plus it was the police who found him--my parents were in FL at the time and I was living in NC. I would have FREAKED out, so it's good that I wasn't right there. I'm squeamish just seeing a dead animal on the side of the road. ugh.

Sorry about yours, too, SleuthyGal. It sound like you are more at peace about him than I am about my brother. I am glad for you for that. :blowkiss:

Eve

 

[Edrock13]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I happened upon this site a few years ago during the Shannon Melendi search/trial and have periodically frequented the site since. It's also hard to miss when Google-ing anything about the Caylee case.

Anyways, I used the search function but didn't really find what I was looking for. I apologize if this has been asked and answered. How long must someone be deceased before a cadaver dog hits on a related scent? Do they pick up the "scent of death" referred to previously, or does some level of decomposition have to occur?

TIA...

 

[Edrock13]

Apparently, "cadaver dogs" specifically trained to do so can detect the "smell of death" within a reasonably short time frame...some websites indicate time frames of 1-2 hours, and at least one website indicated that the time frame might be as short as 15 minutes. Also, this smell of death can be detected on items coming in contact with the deceased for as little as 2 minutes.

 

[bunnyphoenix1]

I thought it very odd for Cindy to cuss about the "dam$" car when calling about the missing child, whom they knew was missing, especially after they say they looked under the playhouse for signs of foul play. I'd like to know if Casey did any searches online about decomp smells in vehicles. Maybe she didn't realize it would linger from now on.

Do we know exactly when it was that they said they conducted their own search of the backyard?

 

[TotallyObsessed]

Apparently, "cadaver dogs" specifically trained to do so can detect the "smell of death" within a reasonably short time frame...some websites indicate time frames of 1-2 hours, and at least one website indicated that the time frame might be as short as 15 minutes. Also, this smell of death can be detected on items coming in contact with the deceased for as little as 2 minutes.

Then my next question is 'how long AFTER a death can cadavar dogs detect a scent?' It has been, what, 2 months since Caylee has been gone. A couple of hurricanes and torrential rain??

I know that the aforementioned raccoon that died in my complex has been removed, we went through the rains of Gustav and Fay, and when I walked my dogs by the spot where it lay the other day, there is a brown, nasty looking spot and my dog wants to smell it every time.

 

[Salem]

Do we know exactly when it was that they said they conducted their own search of the backyard?

Good question. If they got the car back on July 15th and then picked Casey up later that afternoon/evening, when did they do this search?

Is it in the 400 pages?

Thanks,

Salem