Have you ever been to a viewing where the person's face looked nothing like what you see in the casket? Happened with my dad.
You have to look at the various photos of Lyle because he looks different. He looks very Native American in some of them but it may not be what he actually looked like while alive.
What Happens to My Body Right After I Die?
Hour 1 - At the moment of death, all of the muscles in the body relax, a state called primary flaccidity. Eyelids lose their tension, the pupils dilate, the jaw might fall open, and the body's joints and limbs are flexible. With the loss of tension in the muscles, the skin will sag, which can cause prominent joints and bones in the body, such as the jaw or hips, to become pronounced.
Hours 2 to 6 - Beginning approximately in the third hour after death, again depending upon numerous factors, chemical changes within the body's cells cause all of the muscles to begin stiffening. Known as rigor mortis, the first muscles affected include the eyelids, jaw, and neck. Over the next several hours, rigor mortis spreads up into the face and down through the chest, abdomen, arms and legs until it reaches the fingers and toes.
Hour 12 and Beyond - After reaching a state of maximum rigor mortis, the muscles will begin to loosen due to continued chemical changes within the cells and internal tissue decay. This process occurs gradually, over a period of one to three days, and will be influenced by external conditions such as temperature (cold slows the process down). Rigor mortis dissipates in the reverse order in which it occurred, i.e., from the fingers and toes, through the arms and legs, and then up through the chest to the neck and face. Eventually, all of the muscles will again relax, reaching a state known as secondary flaccidity.
