We’re all used to our dead bodies, in crime fiction, being easily found, in the street, or a home, or somewhere equally simple to start off the investigation. But truth can often be much stranger than fact and bodies aren’t always left in easy to find places.
We have discussed how you could possibly dispose of a body once killed, but today I’m going to tell you about 5 real life examples of places bodies have actually been found. (Not necessarily murdered.)
5. On top of a mountain. Now this one isn’t suspicious. But, did you realise that if you die while climbing Mount Everest you are left there for eternity. You’re not brought down to your family or buried, you’re left on the mountain.There are over 200 bodies on the Everest. Many of which are passed by those trying to reach the summit. If you are interested, you can see photographs at this link. It’s nothing too gruesome, as they are frozen and there are no faces, but it reports life and death on the mountain that claims so many lives but still draws so many people to it.
4. On a TV set location. During the filming of season 3 of CSI: New York a mummified corpse was found in a building the crew were filming in. It was even creepier for them because the storyline they were filming was about a mummified corpse!
3. Mexico’s Mayan Sacrificial Pools. These are relaxing clear blue pools where couples and families go to relax, unwind and enjoy the local beauty. That is unless they dive down right to the bottom where they will find a lot of skeletal bodies. Hundreds. They were sacrificed centuries ago to the rain god Chaak and are still resting at the bottom of the pool. Nice huh?
2. The Hanging Cliff Coffins of Asia. There are some utterly magnificent jaw-dropping cliffs, in the Yibin District of Sichuan Province in southern China, but as you look up at them you might notice something strange. Black boxes in rows going up the sheer-drop sides. Rows and rows of boxes. The boxes are coffins filled with corpses of the Bo people who came before the Ming Dynasty and the only people who know why the coffins are on those cliffs are in the boxes. Though, the ritual has been continued, even though many of the coffins have fallen off the cliff… It does literally rain men.
1. Captured on Google Maps. That’s right, a crime scene was inadvertently captured by the all-seeing Google and uploaded onto the internet. The victim being a young boy in Richmond, Virginia. His corpse and the investigators were caught on camera and it took four years for it to be noticed and taken down.
Sarah Hardy says
Wow, what a fascinating blog post, love it. I think the Mount Everest is the one that shocked me more. x
Rebecca Bradley says
I know. It surprised me when I found out as I watched the film Everest. Can you imagine climbing it and having to go past those who haven’t made it. Eerie.
Simon Michael (@simonmichaeluk) says
This is indeed a very thought-provoking post. It’s actually given me an idea for a plot! Thanks.
Rebecca Bradley says
Glad to have helped! They are quite interesting aren’t they? I did think that myself as I was writing them. ?
Denise Zendel says
I still vote for manure piles. It’s been done here. And, I am told, is a quite effective means of disposal. Not that I have any direct personal knowledge … 😉 I’ve seen the L&O show where they find a mummified body in the wall … how freaky it actually happened in real life.
Rebecca Bradley says
I know! There was also a body washed up during CSI: Miami as well!
Margot Kinberg says
This is really interesting, Rebecca! I can only imagine how it must have felt for the television staff to find a real-life corpse! Wow! And the others are fascinating, too. I suppose it just goes to show you to look carefully wherever you go – even online!
Rebecca Bradley says
I know. The world really is a fascinating place, I’m learning ?
Alex J. Cavanaugh (@AlexJCavanaugh) says
Not swimming in that pool.
That last one is horrific, especially for the family.
Rebecca Bradley says
I know, and it was online four years! As for that pool, people do still go in it!
Annalisa Crawford says
Wow, the Everest one is chilling – I’ve just been on the site reading about Green Boots, who is seen by most of the people who pass his way. That has to be an incredibly scary and sobering sight 🙁
Rebecca Bradley says
I know! And yet there are still so many people who want to, and do, do up there.
gunnardeckare says
Interesting facts. I knew about the bodies on Mont Everest but not the rest. I found your blog just now. Have you written any crime books?
Rebecca Bradley says
Hi, I’m glad you found the blog. And that you enjoyed the post. This is part of a series of quirky interesting crime/death related facts. You can find the others here; https://www.rebeccabradleycrime.com/category/writing/ I do write. I have two novels out. If you’re looking at this on a laptop/desktop, you’ll see them in the right-hand sidebar. If you’re looking at it on a mobile device, scroll all the way to the bottom. (I need to make this clearer – I do apologise. I’m in the middle of having a new website built which will make this obvious.) Thanks again!