Skigirl
Verified expert in neuroscience & psychology
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- May 27, 2009
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I have a question that I often think of with missing persons in the woods cases. If animals scavenge the body and then scatter the bones, how long does it take for the body to "vanish"? I figure if separate animals take bits of the body and bones "here and there" in a densely wooded forest, scattered bones wouldn't be as obvious to a casual observer. Perhaps some bones are under some leaves, some are in a den and more are just buried as time marches on. Does anyone have any information on that? I figure this sort of thing happens to many missing persons cases which is why bodies can be lost forever. however, if it takes over 1 year for animals to completely remove a body from a site, it kind of defeats my theory.
Oh geez, I used to live on 30 wooded acres, on a river, tucked down a couple gravel roads. Once, a UPS truck hit a deer in our (extremely long) gravel driveway. There was no evidence of it hours later because of all the scavengers. Add to that leaves, pine needles, etc., and a body can disappear very quickly. Clothes, jewelry, etc., can last much longer, but again, those can be scattered around a site when scavengers are doing what they do, and then those clothes and other personal effects can be quickly buried.