Decomp smell **REVISIT**

[sha-sha]

What amazes me is that George DROVE THE CAR HOME he sat inside of it for however many miles to their house. Can you just imagine how stinky that was? He being a former cop, he knew what that smell was, he knew his granddaughter was missing, he knew his daughter has always been a liar. Can you imagine his thought process as he was driving home? I just feel so bad for him in that scenario.

 

[robotdog]

George has known from the "GET GO" that something was very wrong

from the "GET GO"

of all the people in the family, he knew what a loose cannon casey is.

unless he is a complete moron then he knew.. :furious:

 

[Edrock13]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-csi-death-dogs-sniffing-out-the-truth-behind-the-crimescene-canines-835047.html

I'm not sure if I entered the link correctly, but here is an interesting article on the cadaver dog topic. I was wondering about the ability of the dogs to detect these scents and how it all figures into the timeline, but any of this could have theoretically happened at any point from the time Caylee was last seen and would be "detectable."

 

[TotallyObsessed]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-csi-death-dogs-sniffing-out-the-truth-behind-the-crimescene-canines-835047.html

I'm not sure if I entered the link correctly, but here is an interesting article on the cadaver dog topic. I was wondering about the ability of the dogs to detect these scents and how it all figures into the timeline, but any of this could have theoretically happened at any point from the time Caylee was last seen and would be "detectable."

Thank you Edrock - that was very informative. I admire these trained dogs (and their trainers) very much.

 

[AZRiverRat]

I've only smelled what I assumed to be decomposition once.
This happenend over 10 years ago and I definitely would remember it if I smelled it again.
I was a waitress and we had noticied a bad smell in the till.
After going thru the cash, we found a $10 that was beat up
and DEFINITELY the source of the smell. We ziplocked it and gave it to the bosses.....Not sure what they did with it.

Ive smelled dead animals that have gotten trapped in the duct work under a mobile, and the smell was bad, but NOWHERE near as awful as that bill.

Ive smelled old rotten raw meat, and even that doesnt compare to the odor of that money. UCK!

Ive seen maggots on cat poop in a litter box lined with paper.

Ive seen fruit fly or gnat maggots on rotting, mushy potates and pretty rank, but NOPE, not the same.

Ive changed the dressings of a person that had MRSA, E-Coli, and Augerinosis (sp) in a diabetic wound. REALLY gross, but again DIFFERENT.

 

[SleuthyGal]

The smell of decomp to a trained dog can linger for years, depending on the conditions and if there is any forensic evidence left behind (like something buried, for instance).

 

[McDonough]

Hubby said that if there are porous surfaces that were in contact with the body then they will almost certainly carry the scent of decomposition indefinitely, especially when the decomp is extreme. If Caylee was wrapped in a rug or blanket and that was found by searchers cadaver dogs would almost certainly still carry the scent on it.

 

[Thinking_Out_Loud]

Is there any way to get blueprints of a possible irrigation system or other underground tunnel system behind the A's home?

The reason that I ask is that I read an article about cadaver dogs used in the UK. There was mention of a dog alerting on an area on the ground. LE investigate by doing a dig, but realized the dog's alert was actually false and inconsistent. Later in life, the murderer confessed to the crime and led LE to the body. It was only a meter away from where the dog alerted. They discovered that there was a pipe under the ground that had been broken by the murderer's spade shovel. The source of the body decomposition smell was transported down the pipe about a meter away from the body. They, then, concluded that dog's alert was actually accurate.

Anyway, after KC said that Caylee was close, it made me wonder if she buried her in the backyard or outside of the yard behind the house. She supposedly used a shovel, and it made me think that she could have broken some pipe too causing the source of the smell to roam around the backyard.

I wish LE would have not given up on the backyard....

Here's the link to the page about the cadaver dogs.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...uth-behind-the-crimescene-canines-835047.html

 

[Salem]

Okay - so GA had to of smelled the decomp on June 24th, because KC told AH that her car smelled on the June 25th because of squirrels. So the car smelled. GA had to have smelled it, at least on the gas cans. Why did he not do something then?

Salem

 

[Eulalie]

This is what I don't understand: didn't Casey herself (and her clothes) stink after driving around in that car? Didn't anyone notice?

 

[Salem]

She must have. And she explained it away to some as a dead squirrel, but GA would have known better. He would have known it was human.

Salem

 

[OakIceShimmer]

How long does it take a body to really start to smell?

I'm wondering if her parents smelled it when they picked the car up and LE smelled it when they searched...how long was the body in and out of the car?
Seriously, if it was in the trunk for a few hours(driving to an alternate location)...could it smell that bad and can the smell linger for weeks? Seriously, why would the smell be there 3 weeks to a month after the fact?

Have you ever been near a dead body other than after being embalmed? or in a morgue? The smell is unmistakable and lingers a loooooonnnnnggggg time.

 

[Advocate4]

After reading testimony (LA's) telling that the odor from the car when it was picked up was so intense and "far-reaching", I'm wondering what could cause that? A dead body still in the car would explain it, of course. And probably a dead body in the car for several days (in the Florida heat) could cause it -- but I'm not sure we can make a strong case that Caylee's body was in the car from June 16 to June 26 or 27 (when the car was seen at Amscott's). I feel this way because Casey was driving the car during that time and had no guarantee that one of her friends might not ask (or need) to ride somewhere with her, etc. Also a big risk that she might be stopped at any time by police -- for example, she apparently ran out of gas on the 20th and an officer or any motorist might have stopped to offer assistance.

If there was a body in the car for a short time, then how did the odor become so powerful? I thought that the stain might explain that, but results from the stain are apparently either negative or inconclusive in some way -- the test results that came back specifically were stated as having been obtained from the hair, not the stain, so at this point I don't think we know for certain that the stain was fluid from a body.

And if the stain in fact is fluid from a body, then how large was the stain such that it might account for the overwhelming odor? I have dug around some on the Internet and have read that the stain was small, and elsewhere that the stain was large -- not sure we were actually told the size.

Last but not least, Casey spoke to Amy on the 25th and again on the 26th about the horrible smell in her car -- if she'd been carrying a body in there, she had to have known what was causing the smell, and so why would she say so much as one word to anyone about "a smell" in her car? Seems like that would be absolutely (!) the LAST thing Casey would want to bring up to someone.

 

[trina133]

After reading testimony (LA's) telling that the odor from the car when it was picked up was so intense and "far-reaching", I'm wondering what could cause that? A dead body still in the car would explain it, of course. And probably a dead body in the car for several days (in the Florida heat) could cause it -- but I'm not sure we can make a strong case that Caylee's body was in the car from June 16 to June 26 or 27 (when the car was seen at Amscott's). I feel this way because Casey was driving the car during that time and had no guarantee that one of her friends might not ask (or need) to ride somewhere with her, etc. Also a big risk that she might be stopped at any time by police -- for example, she apparently ran out of gas on the 20th and an officer or any motorist might have stopped to offer assistance.

If there was a body in the car for a short time, then how did the odor become so powerful? I thought that the stain might explain that, but results from the stain are apparently either negative or inconclusive in some way -- the test results that came back specifically were stated as having been obtained from the hair, not the stain, so at this point I don't think we know for certain that the stain was fluid from a body.

And if the stain in fact is fluid from a body, then how large was the stain such that it might account for the overwhelming odor? I have dug around some on the Internet and have read that the stain was small, and elsewhere that the stain was large -- not sure we were actually told the size.

Last but not least, Casey spoke to Amy on the 25th and again on the 26th about the horrible smell in her car -- if she'd been carrying a body in there, she had to have known what was causing the smell, and so why would she say so much as one word to anyone about "a smell" in her car? Seems like that would be absolutely (!) the LAST thing Casey would want to bring up to someone.

Excellent post and definately something to think about!!

 

[GreenEyes727]

But in Casey's world, she covers her butt with lots of lies and cover-ups.

She's a pro at lying and covering-up - she's had tons of practice. She faked having a job for a very long time. She obviously has little to no conscience and only cries for herself. Sad.

 

[lookieloo]

I've been wondering the same thing: how long does a body have to be in a car trunk to smell the way it did. Is it one day, one week or more? Would the Body Farm know the answer to this? Do the police know the answer? If she was driving around from the 15th or 16th until the 27th with the smell getting worse by the day, then she was starting to think of stories to cover. Before it smelled so bad, she didn't care. That's why she was drinking and smoking pot so much, to forget about what she had done.

 

[2goldfish]

Last but not least, Casey spoke to Amy on the 25th and again on the 26th about the horrible smell in her car -- if she'd been carrying a body in there, she had to have known what was causing the smell, and so why would she say so much as one word to anyone about "a smell" in her car? Seems like that would be absolutely (!) the LAST thing Casey would want to bring up to someone.

that IS why she was mentioning it. she wasnt so stupid as to think that no one would ever walk near the car and go holy lord, what is that stench? so by bringing it up first, she was playing on what you just said - why on earth would she mention it if she knew what it was? this made it appear innocuous.

 

[headndownstream]

Good question. Maybe LP is right, and a 'stew' was in that bag, with fluids that spilled into the trunk (the stain) Once that soaked into the carpet, that smell was there and was only going to get worse and worse. I think those of us who don't know about decomp except what we've learned (here) have no idea how bad it is.

MAYBE, she mentioned it so that IF someone else discovered it she'd be like, 'I know, I told you those squirrels stunk up my car, now you know what I was talking about'.

I think even CA had no idea how much worse it was going to get at the point. She got rid of Caylee and thought the smell would lessen after that.

Do you suppose she asked the two guys to push her car in backwards so they'd be pushing from the front (less smell) and not from the back, (worse smell?) I thought about that earlier. Cause to me, if my car needs pushed off the road, I'm just glad to get any help, however it has to be pushed. I just think to push a car backwards is weird. (if that story is even true, btw)

 

[GameTheory]

Advocate4 I have been pondering on this as well. And here are my two possibilities - and as I understand human decomposition the situation (smell) becomes worst and worst over time right? And from what Lee describes in his interview that smell was HORRIBLE - OUT OF THIS WORLD.

1. Either whatever happened did not happened on the 15th/16th but closer to the date she abandoned the car....like the 25th/26th/27th? If there was a body it was in her car for a period until she decided where to place it....so she wasn't exactly driving around town for 3 weeks with Caylee in the car before she abandoned it and nobody noticed anything.....

2. OR....and this is what I believe is the strongest possibility....she placed Caylee somewhere else and went back and took her at some point and moved her somewhere else (I do not believe it was the Anthony backyard. I find it that impossible to have happened). Whatever happened happened and she the decision where to place the child was not well thought. She returned back and took her and placed her somewhere else. She placed the child in a bag/suitcase in some secluded area and perhaps? she returned back to check the crime scene, see if it could be found, or if ''evidence'' was still there and decided to move her or she thought a new better place? By that time the decomposition must have progressed significantly and the smell must have been horrible even if the child was in the trunk for a few hours. And I believe there was a bag/suitcase used in this case, therefore we have the strong horrible smell but not the overwhelming physical evidence as fluids, hair, skin, etc. I don't think that bag/suitcase was in that trunk for a long period I just believe it was in that trunk at a point where decomposition had already really progressed. And I think she moved the body at the time she decides to abandon her car because it was ''ruined'' from the smell.

 

[Faenorwyn]

After reading testimony (LA's) telling that the odor from the car when it was picked up was so intense and "far-reaching", I'm wondering what could cause that? A dead body still in the car would explain it, of course. And probably a dead body in the car for several days (in the Florida heat) could cause it -- but I'm not sure we can make a strong case that Caylee's body was in the car from June 16 to June 26 or 27 (when the car was seen at Amscott's). I feel this way because Casey was driving the car during that time and had no guarantee that one of her friends might not ask (or need) to ride somewhere with her, etc. Also a big risk that she might be stopped at any time by police -- for example, she apparently ran out of gas on the 20th and an officer or any motorist might have stopped to offer assistance.

If there was a body in the car for a short time, then how did the odor become so powerful? I thought that the stain might explain that, but results from the stain are apparently either negative or inconclusive in some way -- the test results that came back specifically were stated as having been obtained from the hair, not the stain, so at this point I don't think we know for certain that the stain was fluid from a body.

And if the stain in fact is fluid from a body, then how large was the stain such that it might account for the overwhelming odor? I have dug around some on the Internet and have read that the stain was small, and elsewhere that the stain was large -- not sure we were actually told the size.

Last but not least, Casey spoke to Amy on the 25th and again on the 26th about the horrible smell in her car -- if she'd been carrying a body in there, she had to have known what was causing the smell, and so why would she say so much as one word to anyone about "a smell" in her car? Seems like that would be absolutely (!) the LAST thing Casey would want to bring up to someone.

The smell in the car didn't necessarily have to come from the stain though. When a body decomposes, it would be enough to permeate throughout the entire car. Even if no stain was left behind at all.....the smell would still be in the car because the gasses from the decomposing body would have already permeated the interior of the car. If that body was in the trunk, obviously the smell would be focused there. I do see what you're saying about how it's unlikely that the body was in the car for such an extended period of time, and I agree. However, it is possible that the body was originally in one location and already beginning to decompose, then it was moved via the trunk to another location. I cannot fathom how anyone could stomach such a thing, but it is a possibility. I wonder how long it takes for a decomposing body to began to smell enough to fill up a car? :waitasec: