Posted: 10/11/2009 6:48:58 AM EDT
| If someone was embalmed and buried in a casket in a vault in 1958, what condition would the body be in now? And if skelatonized where does all the other gunk (fat, tissue, muscle, skin) go? |
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I worked a case about 10 years ago involving a cemetery in Tulsa that was allegedly grave-robbing and also double-stacking cemetery plots. We got a court order for 3 exhumations and I had to video and photograph the grave openings...
I now have orders to be cremated written into my will. 
BTW: If you want to be buried, have the BEST CASKET SEAL that money can buy and skimp on something else. |
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Quoted:
I worked a case about 10 years ago involving a cemetery in Tulsa that was allegedly grave-robbing and also double-stacking cemetery plots. We got a court order for 3 exhumations and I had to video and photograph the grave openings... I now have orders to be cremated written into my will.
BTW: If you want to be buried, have the BEST CASKET SEAL that money can buy and skimp on something else. Were they full of water? |
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I read a story one time about a guy that got a job working at a cemetary (I think, might have been a funeral home or coroner's office). One of his first jobs was to help get a casket out of a mausoleum for some reason. Apparently all the other gunk (fat, tissue, muscle, skin) breaks down into a sort of gel, and the caskets in this mausoleum had trays under them to collect it and keep it from getting all over the floor or whatever.
I also read that the embalming process is basically just to keep the body from decomposing before the funeral, it's not a long term preservative. Although I would imagine bodies in different climates (colder?) may preserve longer than others. |
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Quoted:
I read a story one time about a guy that got a job working at a cemetary (I think, might have been a funeral home or coroner's office). One of his first jobs was to help get a casket out of a mausoleum for some reason. Apparently all the other gunk (fat, tissue, muscle, skin) breaks down into a sort of gel, and the caskets in this mausoleum had trays under them to collect it and keep it from getting all over the floor or whatever.
I also read that the embalming process is basically just to keep the body from decomposing before the funeral, it's not a long term preservative. Although I would imagine bodies in different climates (colder?) may preserve longer than others. This is what I have always been told. |
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Quoted:
If someone was embalmed and buried in a casket in a vault in 1958, what condition would the body be in now? And if skelatonized where does all the other gunk (fat, tissue, muscle, skin) go? Well, if you had asked about a body "buried" in 1957 or 1959 I could have helped you. But since you didn't, I can't. 
Sucks to be you. |
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There are too many variables to say with any certainty. It would depend on the quality of the embalming, the type of vault, casket, environment, etc....
After 50+ years you could have complete skeletonization, you could have moderate preservation or anything in between. As for the fat, muscle and skin you will likely have adipocere form from the fat. The muscle and skin condition will again depend on the above variables. It could be dessicated and preserved or it could be putrefied. |