Woman Drove Around With Mummified Body For Several Months

[Whisper]

COSTA MESA – A woman drove for months with a mummified body in her passenger's seat before the body was discovered by police, authorities said.
The driver of the 1997 Mercury Marquis tried to cover the decomposing corpse with pieces of clothing, but officers on Monday found it after receiving a call of an illegally parked car.
Costa Mesa police believe the body is of a transient woman from the Fountain Valley area known as Signe.
Investigators said the driver of the car had befriended the woman at a local park and allowed her to sleep in the car overnight. When the woman discovered the woman died while inside, she continued to drive the car with the body at her side, said Sgt. Ed Everett.
The driver told police she was afraid to contact police about the body, so she continued to drive the car.
The car belongs to the mother of the woman who was driving the car, Everett said. Their identities were not released.
Because of the advanced state of decomposition, officials believe the woman had been dead anywhere from three to 10 months, Everett said.
The last time the driver saw the woman alive was in December, he said.
The body was not discovered until Monday evening when police received a call about a car partially blocking a driveway in the 2000 block of Tustin Avenue.
Officers could smell a foul odor coming from the car, and after seeing a leg underneath the clothing, broke a window to get access inside.
[...]
"This person was somewhat used to the smell," Everett said.
The conditions inside the car appear to have affected the decomposition process of the body, and the body was found in a somewhat preserved and mummified state when it was discovered.
An autopsy has revealed no obvious signs of foul play, but the cause of death is still unknown, he said.
Officers are still trying to determine the identity of the woman, who is believed to have been between 50 and 60 years old.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/car-2...oman-body.html

[AKA jas]

Wisp Wisp Wisp.....I am somewhere between a laugh and an ick.

[62julietandvoid]

Too afraid to call the police but can drive around with a mummified body as a co-pilot?

[TwiztidAngel]

ewww...all i can think about is the mythbusters episode where they put a pig corpse in a sportscar to see if you can get rid of the smell after said carcass sat and fermented for a few days....the car was eventually trashed and parted out because no one could get over the smell to actually buy it....0.o

[Mommyof2]

"This person was somewhat used to the smell," Everett said.

Maybe I am just a big baby when it comes to smells but I could never get used to that smell.. I have came across a few dead animals in my life and that smell is so offensive!

[myowndisaster23]

...

[myowndisaster23]

Oh... My... God!
I think I have finally heard it ALL.

Seriously, though, could you imagine the smell inside that car? Where do people come up with their logic? Why would she be afraid to call the police?? "Hi, officer, I let an homeless lady sleep in my car on a cold night and she died... can I get some help?" As opposed to, "uh-oh, dead lady, oh well, ill just cover her up and go along with my life..." for a YEAR no less! Ewww...

I will say though, when I read the article and it didn't include, "the mummified body of her dead _insert number_ month/year old" my first thought was THANK GOD.

[Whisper]

Wisp Wisp Wisp.....I am somewhere between a laugh and an ick.

;LOL sorry ity was on my autopsy web site and I thought the same thing
How the hell could you get used to that smell?
No way in hell I ever could
I still gag sometimes at work when a person has passed and Im getting them ready for funeral home to pick them up and they dont even smell(yet)

[AKA jas]

;LOL sorry ity was on my autopsy web site and I thought the same thing
How the hell could you get used to that smell?
No way in hell I ever could
I still gag sometimes at work when a person has passed and Im getting them ready for funeral home to pick them up and they dont even smell(yet)

Screw the 'sorry' --I love it! Please keep em' comin! YOU !!

[gee]

All I could think about was that movie " Weekend at Bernie's" 1989
when they drag that dead guy all over town.

I lol"d

[Rockin Ma]

This reminds me of something here.

Allen James had faced murder charges in his son's death, but a New London jury convicted him Tuesday of lesser charges after one day of deliberations.

James killed Alquan White in 2000 or 2001, police said. The boy's remains were found in a suitcase five years ago when a police officer pulled James over for a traffic violation.

James confessed to throwing White across a room but told the jury he did not kill his son. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

This guy dismembered and burned his son out of state, like NC or something, then drove around with him in a suitcase in his car for YEARS. I know people that knew him. Guess he sold a lot of weed. They said he stunk so bad and no one knew why, they just thought he didn't bath.

He got 14 years.

[Alf]

>>shudder<<

[TKaz]

"The conditions inside the car appear to have affected the decomposition process of the body, and the body was found in a somewhat preserved and mummified state when it was discovered."

WHAT? What was the condition inside the car that helped preservation???? It's Orange County - it's like 70 everyday, it's not like it was Alaska...or under water. I don't get it. Mummified in the OC...hmm.

[CountryMomma]

Wow...Just wow. This one left me speechless but I can only begin to imagine the horrific smell. Pardon me while I vomit

[FknKraze]

Now,you guys haven't thought of the benefits,this would provide, you would never have to worry about a car jacking, it would make a great clothes rack, the perfect travel companion, wouldn't talk your ear off or have to stop to pee every 15mins and you would never have to worry about a rapist hiding in your back seat, when you have to get into your car after dark, all alone. I bet she made her earings out of those pine tree airfresheners. Hahaha

[Obsolete]

"The conditions inside the car appear to have affected the decomposition process of the body, and the body was found in a somewhat preserved and mummified state when it was discovered."

WHAT? What was the condition inside the car that helped preservation???? It's Orange County - it's like 70 everyday, it's not like it was Alaska...or under water. I don't get it. Mummified in the OC...hmm.

Air conditioning maybe? Plus if the woman died in December, by the time the weather warmed up she would have already been already mummified.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

You wouldn't even need air conditioning. A moderate temps and low humidity would do it.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Medical examiners have identified a mummified corpse that was left in a car's passenger seat for 10 months in Southern California, a police spokesman said Friday.

Authorities had said earlier it could take weeks to identify the homeless woman, but the Orange County coroner's office was able to rehydrate the desiccated body's fingertips to obtain a usable fingerprint, said Costa Mesa police Detective Sgt. Paul Beckman. The office will not release the name until next-of-kin are notified, he said.
[...]

The driver is a 57-year-old former real estate agent from Corona del Mar, an upscale beach community, who herself had fallen on hard times and was living with friends, he said.

Authorities have not determined if the driver, whose name has been withheld, will face any charges in the case.

An autopsy showed no signs of trauma. Toxicology reports could take six weeks or more, Everett said.

"We would obviously be looking at what laws deal with the transportation of bodies. Ultimately, this is still an undetermined death," Beckman said. "There's still a vast amount of investigation necessary."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,3991331.story