Found Deceased TX - Caleb Harris, 21, Texas A&M University student, Corpus Christi, 4 Mar 2024 #4

[10ofRods]

I have a question along your line of thinking. The CCPD stated that they were unable to visualize anything inside the manhole as it had water in it at the time and they couldn't see to the bottom. If he had fallen into that manhole, wouldn't his body have floated to the top by April 18?

Bodies float during the stage of decomp where gasses are accumulating in tissues in the body. When the skin degrades, these gasses escape. Then the body sinks again.

If the body is mostly bones, it's going to sink. Human bodies don't just float when they are alive. The more fat a person has, the easier it is for them to learn to float. Some people never learn to float/can't float unless using arms and legs to paddle.

But dead bodies do not always float, and none of them is going to float once the fat and muscle are mostly gone. Tendons and fascia and bone may remain for quite a while.

 

[PommyMommy]

Celebration of Life - Caleb Harris​

 

[PommyMommy]

JUL 23, 2024

New Braunfels community to gather Tuesday morning to remember Caleb Harris

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - A celebration of life is being held for Caleb Harris Tuesday morning by family and friends.The memorial is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the

www.foxsanantonio.com

[...]

Caleb's father Randy says it's been sleepless nights lately.

Tuesday though, was a celebration of life, to be with family and friends.

In the meantime, he wants to know what happened to his son.

There are still unanswered questions.

The medical examiner in Nueces County has not determined how Caleb died.

[...]

 

[SMK777]

JUL 23, 2024

New Braunfels community to gather Tuesday morning to remember Caleb Harris

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - A celebration of life is being held for Caleb Harris Tuesday morning by family and friends.The memorial is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the

www.foxsanantonio.com

[...]

Caleb's father Randy says it's been sleepless nights lately.

Tuesday though, was a celebration of life, to be with family and friends.

In the meantime, he wants to know what happened to his son.

There are still unanswered questions.

The medical examiner in Nueces County has not determined how Caleb died.

[...]

I imagine it’s going to be difficult to determine exactly when and how he died. And how he came to have this accident, if in fact they are able to rule out foul play.

 

[rogue ant]

There are manholes and there are pipes. It's my understanding that the pipe that brought water via gravity flow into the Perry Place lift station wet well chamber was either 10 or 15 inches in diameter. The outbound pipe, carrying the pumped-up and out water, is 18 inches in diameter.

The top opening of the manhole in the crop field, per the People mag article, is stated to have been 25 inches in diameter.

A lot to keep straight, for sure. Add to the list where the intake pipe may have made bends, etc., including at the bottom of the 15-foot-deep manhole, and it gets even more challenging to envision, IMO.

I imagine that the remains only started getting carried through the pipes (manhole 25" vs pipes 10-18") after significant decomposition had taken place.

 

[Muddy K]

I imagine that the remains only started getting carried through the pipes (manhole 25" vs pipes 10-18") after significant decomposition had taken place.

Agreed. But do you think that level of decomposition could have taken place in the six weeks between March 4th, when Caleb vanished, and April 18th, when LE searched the open manhole?

 

[bombardier]

Agreed. But do you think that level of decomposition could have taken place in the six weeks between March 4th, when Caleb vanished, and April 18th, when LE searched the open manhole?

100%. significant decomp can occur fast in water (when temperate matched, slower than decomp on land, but still pretty damn fast!). disarticulation seems to happen easily in water deaths as well, so the body breaks into smaller pieces.
found a great pdf source for decomp in water; lots of forensic gobbledegook but in the description of drowning victims w/ PMI close to 6 weeks, w/ temps around 12C, partial skeletonization of hands, chest, and face was seen.

 

[SMK777]

Agreed. But do you think that level of decomposition could have taken place in the six weeks between March 4th, when Caleb vanished, and April 18th, when LE searched the open manhole?

I think so, due to the water, and the treatment chemicals it contained, and the heat. Definitely.

 

[SimplyCass]

Let's tackle the accident theory.

He fell into the manhole cover nearest to his place
- It would make logical sense that his phone turned off when he hit the water.
- his last known Snapchat was right in that area
- It fits the timeline of the time of the Snap and him vanishing/phone leaving the network at 3:10 am.
- It perfectly answers the question raised about why he was outside but then his phone turned off before the food arrived.

What doesn't make sense (so far)
- It was searched extensively
- Status of it being open/closed that night is unclear.
- An alarm triggered due to a blockage. So was he down there the entire time? Is that a natural explanation for why an alarm would trigger months later?
- If he wasn't down there the entire time, where was he?

Regardless of accident or foul play, currently as established, it requires MAJOR jumps and leaps of logic which simply don't make sense, even applying the most liberal/generous interpretation. In my opinion, of course.

I guess I'll end by hoping that LE can definitely conclude what happened and that the family and general public accept those findings.

 

[IDK]

Let's tackle the accident theory.

He fell into the manhole cover nearest to his place
- It would make logical sense that his phone turned off when he hit the water.
- his last known Snapchat was right in that area
- It fits the timeline of the time of the Snap and him vanishing/phone leaving the network at 3:10 am.
- It perfectly answers the question raised about why he was outside but then his phone turned off before the food arrived.

What doesn't make sense (so far)
- It was searched extensively
- Status of it being open/closed that night is unclear.
- An alarm triggered due to a blockage. So was he down there the entire time? Is that a natural explanation for why an alarm would trigger months later?
- If he wasn't down there the entire time, where was he?

Regardless of accident or foul play, currently as established, it requires MAJOR jumps and leaps of logic which simply don't make sense, even applying the most liberal/generous interpretation. In my opinion, of course.

I guess I'll end by hoping that LE can definitely conclude what happened and that the family and general public accept those findings.

Good summary, thank you for posting. I’m very interested in hearing the final determination once available.


If Caleb’s death is ruled accidental, I wonder if that opens the city up to the possibility of a law suit? I’m not sure his parent’s would be interested in pursuing anything like that though.