[hermantheshocker]

A woman was found dead in her apartment in January 2009. She had not been seen for 40 days. She was lying on a mattress on the floor. The window in the room was closed and the shutters were down. All other windows and shutters in the rest of the flat were closed, apart from a tiny window in the bathroom. Next to her several pills were found. She was clothed in a T-shirt, thin capri-pants, and woolen socks. Most of the body was mummified, and the face was partially skeletonized. Location unknown.


Fig.1 State of the corpse.


Fig.2 State of the corpse.

Empty pupal cases of Lucilia sericata were found adhering to the woolen socks. A live specimen of the beetle Necrobia rufipes was crawling out of the clothes during autopsy. Dead adult specimens were collected, as well as empty pupal cases of Megaselia scalaris. When the abdominal cavity was opened, thousands of larvae and pupae of Megaselia scalaris were revealed.


Fig.3 Open abdominal cavity.


Fig.4 Close-up inside abdominal cavity showing hundreds of larvae and pupae of Megaselia scalaris.

The temperature in the room when the corpse was found was 21°C. It was assumed that the temperature remained almost constant, as the windows were closed and the shutters were down. The first developmental cycle of the blowfly Lucilia sericata had been completed when the body was found. Therefore, the calculation was based on another species, Megaselia scalaris, which is additionally known for being associated with indoor bodies. Lucilia sericata takes 19 days to complete its lifecycle. Megaselia scalaris completes development at a 12:12 photoperiod after about 37 days.



Since the individual’s missing period was about 40 days, postmortem interval determination using developmental data of Megaselia scalaris was much more accurate than the postmortem interval calculated with data for Lucilia sericata. The missing interval will most likely be very close to the real postmortem interval as a suicide note was found dated shortly before Christmas.

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This post is for educational purposes only and is nonprofit. Under Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. No copyright infringement intended. This post does not encourage or glorify violence or harassment. All/some of the images have been upscaled and sharpened/enhanced. The text might have been shortened and simplified, and/or reorganized for online view. Original case report by Madea B., Henssge C. - Wiley Blackwell 2014.

[dogleg818]

Good post with great closeups.

[rambbb]

wow!

[REVZZYBAN]

Beauty is only skin deep.
Thanks, Shocker

[kellyhound]

maggot fest

[K53]

Morgue attendants have their hands full with this case

[Rogan]

I used to think that if you're going to opt out, you'd want people to find you fairly quick. but I've changed my ways, I used to think that I always had the answers, not no more. People, they reach a point where they don't give a fuck about caliber, length of rope, method or whether people will find you or not. I've come to accept that.

[poncholefty1]

Totally random, but something about the way her hands are positioned makes me sad. Like, she just knew she was going to sleep and that was it.

[Karma]

Looks like she went peacefully. Fascinating post. Thank you.

[northernlights]

This is an amazing post. I like that bottom pic where face of the skull almost looks like it is hooded, like the grim reaper.









"The temperature in the room when the corpse was found was 21°C." This is 69.8 far. if anyone is wondering.