NOTE: Environmental conditions, especially temperature and humidity, have _great_ influence on the rate of decompostion. The physcial character istics of the deceased are also a factor. This timeline is a guide only.
Moment of death:
Heart stops beating, no pulse present. Skin becomes pale
and taut, and all muscles relax, resulting in loss of
bladder and bowel contents. Body begins to lose heat in
accordance to Newton's Law of Cooling (T=T0+|T1-T2|e^-kt),
about 1.5 degrees F per hour, depending on environmental
temperature.
+10 minutes *
If body is in open air, flies arrive and lay thousands of
eggs in mouth, nose, eyes, and any open wounds of corpse.
+30 minutes
Skin at lowest points points of body becomes purplish as
blood settles due to gravity - aka post-mortem lividity.
Any pressure on skin displaces collected blood, making the
skin white. Skin on higher points of body takes on a
waxy, almost translucent look; lips and nails become pale;
extremities turn blue. Eyes begin to flatten from fluid
loss.
+ 3 hours
Body still warm to touch, no rigor mortis detected.
+ 4 hours
Rigor mortis evident, occurring first with very small
muscles - eyelids, face, lower jaw, neck - before
spreading to the rest of the body.
+ 4-6 hours
Body is cool to touch.
+ 6-8 hours
Fixed lividity - no blanching of skin with pressure.
More advanced rigor mortis. Corneas are cloudy.
+ 12 hours *
Fly eggs hatch and maggots feed on tissue.
+ 12 hours
Full body rigidity.
+ 18 - 24 hours
Body has cooled to environmental temperature. Skin of
the head and neck begins to turn greenish-red due to
decomposition. Discoloration spreads to chest, thighs,
and the rest of the body over the next few days. Facial
features become unrecognizable, body begins to smell like
rotting meat.
+ 24 - 36 hours *
Beetles start to arrive and eat the skin.
by 30 hours
Rigor mortis has disappeared.
by 48 hours *
Spiders, mites, and millipedes arrive to feed on other
insects.
+ 3 days
Gas from decomposition may form blisters 2-3 inches in
diameter. Body may swell grossly and may leak fluids
from the nose, mouth, urethra, vagina.
+ 3 - days *
The first insect-infected area (the head, ante-mortem
wounds) will be infested. Maggots begin a second area
of infestation involving the genital area.
+ 1 week *
Insects pierce the abdomen, causing it to collapse.
Diptera pupa present. Hair mass comes off.
+ 10 days *
Beetle larvae present.
+ 10 days
The body weight of the deceased has dropped dramatically
by this point.
+ 2 weeks *
Beetles increase in numbers and will remain to about 7
weeks.
+ 3 weeks
Skin, hair, and nails become loose and easy to pull off.
Skin begins to burst open, exposing muscle and fat. In
warm temperatures, the body will be skeletonized within
three to four weeks; in colder temperatures, skeleton-
ization could take two months or longer. It is not
unusual for the head/skull to be found a short distance
away from the main body, for canines will frequently take
the head and use it for a toy. The resulting scrapes and
punctures on/in the skull are sometimes misinterpreted as
an ante-mortem injury.
+ (about) 1 year
Bones out in the open lose their odor.
* Information involving insect activity assumes the body is out in the open. Forensic entymology is very accurate - insect life cycles are so fixed and precise as to act like natural clocks. Insect behavior can indicate whether the subject died indoors or out, in warm or cold, in shade or sun. Irregular decompostion with regard to insect activity may indicate ante-mortem injury (insects will attack wounds immediately upon death). Post-mortem damage must be ruled out during autopsy through the examination of the underlying bone. Regarding irregular decompostion, maggots found on the palms of the hands may indicate defence wounds, while maggots found along the arms may indicate intravenous drug abuse.