Time of death can help forensics and police teams piece together a better timeline as to what happened to someone. If someone is just found deceased without the thought of foul play, this type of information can be good for finding out how long they have been there and aid in the process of getting closure for the loved ones.
Yes, the temperature of a deceased individual can have a large impact on discovering their time of death.
The closer the temperature of the body is to the normal body temperature, the closer to the time of death it is likely. In some cases, the body's temperature can become elevated right before death as well, sometimes a reading of 104 Fahrenheit is possible.
Using some generalizations, the body cools around 1.4° Fahrenheit per hour for the first 12 hours, then cools by about .07° Fahrenheit per hour after that. This is not going to be the same rate for everyone since there are other variables that will play a role, but it can be a general rule of thumb.
It will take about 12 hours in certain situations for a body to be cool to the touch and a total of 24 hours for bodies to be cold to the core.
Create Date: October 7, 2024
Last Modified Date: October 7, 2024
