IL IL - Fay Rawley, Summum, Fulton County farmer and land owner, 8 Nov 1953

[STANDREID]

Rawley's teeth should still be there if not bones.

 

[STANDREID]

The taillight lenses were likely plastic so they are probably still around.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Just to show my age, I remember driving cars with Bakerlite steering wheels and other various car parts made of bakerlite. I don't think that rots either.

Bakelite is a thermoset plastic and very sturdy. It was used for phones, radios, jewelry, purses, and all variety of other things. It's highly collectible now.

FYI, the grandson of the inventor of Bakelite killed his mother and later tried to kill his grandmother. If you are interested, you should look it up - it's a fascinating story of a disturbed, privileged son and an over-indulgent mother who had mental problems of her own.

Here's a Wikipedia entry for Barbara Baekeland:

Barbara Daly Baekeland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorry for being slightly off-topic here!

 

[STANDREID]

Thanks for that information Marilyn - very interesting!

 

[STANDREID]

FYI, the grandson of the inventor of Bakelite killed his mother and later tried to kill his grandmother. If you are interested, you should look it up - it's a fascinating story of a disturbed, privileged son and an over-indulgent mother who had mental problems of her own.

Hopefully I can find the film.

 

[STANDREID]

I looked for Savage Grace the other day but my video store didn't have it.:notgood:

 

[STANDREID]

Rawley's teeth should still be there if not bones.

That is, if he had teeth.

 

[STANDREID]

One thing not there would be his glasses. They were found in his living room - apparently knocked off in the struggle.

 

[STANDREID]

That is, if he had teeth.

Although, false teeth would probably still be around too.

 

[STANDREID]

Actually, I'd expect that any dental work would survive.

 

[STANDREID]

Bakelite is a thermoset plastic and very sturdy. It was used for phones, radios, jewelry, purses, and all variety of other things. It's highly collectible now.

I believe Bakelite was the first all synthetic plastic and developed a little over 100 years ago.

 

[STANDREID]

There were plastics about 50 years before Bakelite but they were derived from plant and animal byproducts.

 

[STANDREID]

I wonder what would be left of a car after 60 years in the ground - plastic, aluminum, lead, chrome flakes? The glass would probably still be there although it's likely broken up.

I think there would be some portions of big heavy parts too - things like engine block and crankshaft as well as some differential parts.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I think there would be some portions of big heavy parts too - things like engine block and crankshaft as well as some differential parts.

It might depend upon the composition of the soil the car is buried in. I would think a car covered by sandy soil would degrade differently than a car covered by thick, clay-like soil, for example. JMO. And maybe the climate of the area would play a role, too. An arid climate might preserve a car longer than a wet/snowy climate, or vice versa.

Just my random thoughts on the subject!

 

[STANDREID]

The depth of the burial might be a factor too, I should think.

 

[STANDREID]

One of the mysteries about the case is, why was a strip mine being refilled in 1953? It's the law now but back then the practice was to just walk away after the coal seam ran out and then after a couple of decades you had a nice deep lake there.

 

[STANDREID]

Those lakes are now major fishing places around here now.

 

[STANDREID]

I don't know who owned the strip mine that was the suspected grave site.

 

[STANDREID]

Nor do I know who owns it now.

 

[STANDREID]

It's very difficult, if not impossible, to start a strip mine now. I had a friend whose family ran one and I think they reopened one that had been shut down. That was 25 years ago though.