Dead body under water?

Question

Hi all

This is slightly morbid but for my coursework I have to analyse a fictious crime.

I's like to know what happens to a body in a cold river? Will decomposition be slowed down?

Also say a person drown in said river... Imagine if they had a tie or scarf on and it got caught on something, could this leave bruising around the neck area?

Again sorry to be morbid!

Any help would be appreciated!

Answer 1

Ok, first of all, lets walk through the death.

The living body hits the water, and water enters the lungs. The epiglotis in the Airway closes as a protection mechanism. Unable to breath, the victim dies of Asphyxia (No air). This is called wet drowning.

A dead body hits the water. With death occurred, the epiglotis has already closed the lungs, so no water enters the lungs.

If a living body is in the water, and a tie catches round a rock, the constriction around the neck would cause blood vessels under the skin to burst and create bruises called Ligature Marks.

If it was a Dead body (A Corpse), the tie would have no bruising as blood is not circulating. Although the vessels may be burst, there is no blood that can be pumped out (On death, blood pools in the lowest part of the body and cant move without the heart to pump it.

With regards to the water, the temperature of the water is not the only thing that causes variance to the decay time. Speed of Bacteria, bacteria present in water and Predatory behaviour. Some bacterias that would have an effect on dry land would not be able to cope in wet conditions, so the manner of decomposition would vary.

Suggest you clarify more on the other elements in your case, or you could talk on the differences in situations, and what effect they have on decomp.

Answer 2

A colder body would decompose at a slower rate.

(Fridges & freezers are used to slow down bacterial action in food).

If the person is already dead and cold when the neck is restricted, there will be no bruising as blood has stopped circulating. Bruising is caused by blood vessels breaking under the skin.

Answer 3

The body will start to decompose slowly in the water, even though the temperature is low. Fish and other organisms will start to nibble and 'rotting' will commence to the outside as well as the inside. Breakdown by maggots will not be as apparent than in a room, for example, because of the absence of blow flies.
The body will tend to swell up, owing to released gases, which will help the corpse to float in water.
Colouring of the skin will often be different on a water borne corpse, somewhat paler.
Bruising, I understand tends to occur when blood and vessels are involved and active in life, but not in a cadaver.

Answer 4

If there are fish the fish may speed up decomposition. water will allow the skin to fall off in lumps quite quickly - 2-3 weeks, see a picture on rotten.com for details.

this will allow access to the organs sooner.

not sure about the bruising but sherlock holmes investigated bruising after death by hitting cadavers with a stick! -- so maybe look up Sir arthur conan doyle if you're out of ideas.

What book please IM me?

p.s. just found out that bruising CAN occur after death:

Department of Forensic Medicine and Medical Informatics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.

It is not sufficiently emphasized in our country that bruising can also appear post-mortem. We report two cases in which we observed discolorations which looked like ante-mortem bruising.

Answer 5

yep decomposition would be slowed down if it was a cold river but not something like a tropical swamp! also the scalf would only bruise if they were alive when it got caught cos when theyre dead their blood isnt moving so no bruises!

Answer 6

cold temperatures will definitely slow decomposition, but water causes bluish discoloration, etc in skin. bodies can be bruised/have internal bleeding for at least a few hours postmortem, depending on the case. good luck!

Answer 7

Um, well it would take a lot longer to decompose, since the cold water would preserve him/her. You posted in the wrong category though. No body would decompose in two days though...think about it like an apple. you through an apple to the side of the road. If it's cold, it freezes, if it's warm it turns brown.

Answer 8

The colder, the slower the decomposition.

Yes, provided that they were not already dead when it got snagged.
If the 'tie' caused asphyxiation before 'drowning', then there would be external and internal marks.

Answer 9

You should check out the case of Lacy Peterson. She was anchored below water in the San Francisco Bay a couple of years ago.