[Vedderman]

Originally Posted by zuiram ↗

I assume tox screens are routine in suicides even in second world countries?

It varies. Typically, if a postmortem is mandated and provided by the government, a tox screen is automatically included in that. PROVIDED that the locale has the facilities to accommodate.

In many countries, however, autopsies are refused because even in suspicious deaths, the decedent's family is obligated to pay for the cost of the postmortem. This is typical in Thailand, for example.

This particular case took place in Guatemala. I am not actually certain as to suspicious death protocols regarding postmortems in Guatemala and I cannot seem to find a statute requiring it.

I spoke with two reporters who were present at the scene and it was indicated to me that the Prosecutor's office was conducting an investigation at the scene though that may have been more in relation to the abuse claims than to the actual death itself.

[zuiram]

Thank you for the information.

A screen would have been useful, of course, but when the next of kin have to pay for it, it seems unlikely enough people would opt in for the volume to bring prices down to something manageable, so I guess we’ll never know for sure.

Really appreciate the info.

[Menalipa]

Poor kid. At this age they feel like they can drown in a glass of water

[DarkMatter]

Bitch killed herself because she couldn't be a wrench?

[Lurking Jerk]

For sale, blue jeans, size 8. Just washed. Barley used.

[soyadude]

With handwriting like that mechanic is not a bad career choice.

[RestlessGypsy]

Originally Posted by oxnard1234 ↗

I completely agree about the urine pattern. I think she was strangled while lying on a bed, with her calves lying over the edge as you've suggested. I think it's murder made to look like suicide.

Yeah, I agree, too. Also, it looks like her shoes could have been tossed to land where they are almost as an afterthought.

[Vedderman]

Well, I have no contacts with any law enforcement down there, but I am friends with several reporters in the city so I got some follow-up after asking them over the past 4 weeks.

There was an investigation, but apparently no full autopsy. The police examined her body and the scene, but I think the family refused an autopsy, likely because the cops found nothing specific and the process would cost too much. I got notes on both the scene and the cadaver, though somewhat limited, from the reporter.

There were no bruises or injuries noted on her body during the examination, aside from the ligature mark. For a ligature, she used a rope, but tied some sort of scarf around the actual noose area, which was likely done to minimize the agony of the rope cutting into her skin when she strangled. It is not uncommon to see this in suicides and it would be a bit unusual for a murderer to think far enough ahead to stage the scene by adding the complication of a scarf to her throat.

Her tongue was protruding and the exam noted a drying artifact, which is to say that the force and pressure of the noose lifted the neck organs upward and caused her tongue to flop out of her mouth. It had begun to dry a bit already, meaning that she likely hung herself almost as soon as her mother and grandfather left the house. This sort of extended protrusion and drying is fairly common with hanging deaths, but less so with manual or ligature strangulation. Plus, as aforementioned, there was no trauma to the neck aside from the noose.

There was no sanitary pad noted as being in place in her underpants, so Sharon's theory on that, while plausible, is not applicable here. I still can't fully explain the breadth of the urine stain on her rear. The evidence sheet noted that her panties and jeans were both soaked with urine. She'd pooped herself, too, which is pretty common in hangings. The report wasn't specific as to amount (I have seen some that actually were), but it is unlikely that she voided enough feces to make a huge mess. Usually, only a small amount of feces is voided during hanging deaths unless the person's bowels were reeeally full. The urine stain on the front of her crotch looks fairly typical. I'd guess she just had a very full bladder and, for whatever reason, it spread the way it did.

I specifically addressed my/our concerns about the unusual breadth of the urine stain to one of the reporters and asked him to check for evidence of a puddle to indicate that she may have been strangled while supine. If she had been strangled and voiced her bladder while lying down, those jeans are wet enough that she'd have left a puddle. He said there was no urine noted anywhere in the house on the investigation report and he didn't see any either. There was also no urine noted on the floor beneath her, but the stain pattern on her jeans looks like it probably didn't run all the way down before being absorbed by the fabric.

There was no sign of a struggle, though some sort of small ceramic cup with potting soil or earth of some kind was broken on the floor. The mother said it was on top of the fridge and may have fallen off by accident. No mention was made of her shoes Their presence was noted and the report seemed to indicate that she took them off before hanging herself, though I don't think it seemed conclusive.

The handwriting on the suicide note was verified to be hers, by the parents and by the police looking at samples. There was allegedly an investigation about the abuse claims, but the reporter said he had no information on it, as cases like that against a minor are not released to the press until resolved.

Looks like everyone involved in the scene seems to agree that it was suicide. I'd have liked to get a full autopsy to check the status of her hyoid bone and a tox screen, but who am I to argue? I'm sure as hell not paying for it.

Sorry, folks. No high drama mystery story here.

I did get one reporter to leak me an uncensored photo (against protocol so please don't share this to other sites, thanks) along with the report docs, so that's a bit of a bonus.

[StalkingYou]

^ I really appreciate all of your hard work. Thank you for being so thorough. There are many of us here that are very grateful for all of y’all’s hard work and effort.

[Vedderman]

Originally Posted by StalkingYou ↗

^ I really appreciate all of your hard work. Thank you for being so thorough. There are many of us here that are very grateful for all of y’all’s hard work and effort.

Sometimes I have better luck than others. 95% of the time, reporters and photogs ignore my messages and mails. But the other 5% of the time, I make good contacts, some of which I have maintained for years. My Spanish is for shit, though, so I run it all through translators, which can result in comedy.

Even better when they prefer to talk via the phone or Skype. It's operatic levels of absurdity.

But it's always fun to get extra reports and details and photos that they dont release to the normal public. This uncensored frontal shot is probably the only one released outside of the reporter's camera. All of the other copies I have seen either censor her face, censor the urine stains, or censor both.