Case report
A scream from the past: A multidisciplinary approach in a concealment of a corpse found mummified

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2015.02.017Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The finding of a mummified body raises many problems to the forensic pathology.

  • The mummification process in rare cases it can develops under special conditions.

  • The postmortem CT can give useful information to exclude traumatic injuries.

  • When a mummified body is found a multidisciplinary approach in Forensic Science is required.

Abstract

When a mummified body is found, it requires the forensic pathologist to determine the manner and cause of death. The mummified body of an older man was found walled in an alcove in a silicon-sealed bedroom, in a semi-supine position with the back on the floor and the legs on the wall. Two plastic bags covered the body. Having removed the plastic bags, the body was fully wrapped in a brown adhesive tape. At the scene, there was no evidence of microfauna. The subject's son stated that after his father's death, he concealed the corpse in order to obtain his annual pension. A postmortem CT scan was performed before the autopsy, which excluded traumatic injuries. The autopsy together with the toxicological and microscopic findings helped us to understand the manner of death. In this case, the mummification process developed under specific environmental conditions and a multidisciplinary approach was required in order to solve it.

Introduction

Mummification is a drying of bodily tissues in place of liquefying putrefaction.1 During the mummification process, water is expelled from tissue, preventing bacterial putrefaction. Mummified soft tissue is dry, leathery and often gray-yellow to brown in color, and adheres to bone tissue. Internal organs are smaller in size but preserve their shapes and structures, allowing it to be studied through histological samples after certain specific procedures.

Mummification commonly occurs in a dry environment, preferably with a moving air current, which is usually but not exclusively a warm place, and situated within an area with a specific degree of environmental oxygenation. However low body weight, being malnourished, dehydrated, having bled out a lot, and skin injuries such as abrasions or burns can facilitate the mummification process. Specific molds can also have an affect on mummified bodies, which is stressed in the literature.2 Bodies of children and elderly are more susceptible to mummification, due to their thinner skin and more dehydrated tissue 3, 4.

The process of artificial mummification was used for millennia worldwide in order to preserve the bodies, and to permit them access to the afterlife.

Nowadays, the finding of a mummified body in a domestic environment is rare, despite being more common in some countries than in others. It is usually due to social isolation of the subject when alive, with a complete or near-complete lack of contact with people and society. Commonly, the subjects are elderly men who are found in their homes several years after their death.5

When a mummified body is found, the forensic pathologist must perform a careful evaluation of all the available data, since the manner of death could be related to suicide, homicide, or reveal the concealment of a corpse.

We present the case of an 83-year-old white male, found mummified and bound with tape, covered with two plastic bags, and walled within an alcove built inside his bedroom. The strange thing about this case is that the mummification process occurred in an environment characterized by features very different to those described in the literature (a hot and dry environment with an air current). The mummification process found in this case was consistent with the peculiar process of the Anaerobiasis mummies, as described by Aufderheide.6

Section snippets

Case

A police team was in an apartment in the suburbs of Rome, searching for hidden weapons. During the investigation they found a silicon-sealed door on the 2nd floor. On opening the door, there was a bedroom in a considerable mess with a silicon-sealed window. The floor was covered with white-colored dust and rubble. In one corner of the room, an abnormal protrusion of the wall was discovered. Having demolished the wall, a dead body was found inside in a semi-supine position with the back on the

Discussion

The English word mummy is derived from the medieval Latin “mumia”, a borrowing of the medieval Arabic word “mūmiya” and from the Persian word “mūm”. This word means an embalmed corpse, and as well as the bituminous embalming substance, it describes the brown-black discoloration due to the resinous substance used to mummify the body.2 The mummification process was first developed and used by the Ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians had such a love for life that it was important that they continued

Conclusions

Our paper shows two important conclusions that must be kept in mind in forensic practice. On the one hand, forensic pathologists should know that a complete mummification process can occur in a special environment, different from what is described in scientific literature. In fact, although the mummification process commonly requires a warm, dry environment with air movement, in rare cases it can also develop under special conditions. In such cases, an anaerobiasis process, in which exclusion

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Funding

None.

Ethical approval

Not required.

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