I just read a news article about a Catholic Nun from Kansas City that evidently didn’t decompose after four years and now the corpse is on display as evidence of a miracle. How, according to science, is this possible in a humid place like Kansas City without intentionally mummifying the corpse?
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I took a forensic entomology class and learned a fair deal about the decomposition process! If one dies inside, especially if the AC or Heater is running, that drastically dries out the air and allows for the mummification of one’s body. This also helps limit insect activity and access to the body.
Mummification is a lot more common out west, where the air is a lot drier. Based on the photos seen in that class, “mummification” just means that some soft tissue is still present and preserved on the body, being more common the hands, feet, and limbs, they don’t look usually look complete and totally preserved like say intentional Egyptian mummies. But out west and inside a climate controlled room, mummification is usually the end point of the decomposition, in comparison to the skeletonization that’s seen out east.
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