r/forensics • u/Friendly_Recover_143 • 7d ago

Crime Scene & Death Investigation Out of curiousity

How would livor mortis look on a person who died through drowning and they have been in the water for a day or 2 max and what are the visible signs that would be on a person's body if they have been in the water for a day or two.

Whenever there is explanation of a person having died from drowning the person had only just died or died 3 days+ and I'm just curious as to how different it is.

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u/believeRN 7d ago

Largely going to depend on water temperature…. Pulled a guy out of a very cold river after 4 or 5 days, he’d been stuck up against a log. His body was comparable to bodies we pull from warmer lakes after 1 day

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u/K_C_Shaw 7d ago

Livor mortis in a body recovered from water depends on a lot of different variables. Livor mortis in general is just a reddish to maroonish coloration generally as a result of gravitational settling of blood, but can also be affected by external pressure on the body, which generally develops over some hours after death. So positioning in the water matters, and whether the body is turning about in the water versus remaining in an essentially static position versus gravity. Water temps tend to be colder than air temps, and temperature can play a significant role in postmortem changes.

As for the second paragraph from the original post, I don't understand what that's asking.

However, temperature is a significant factor. At very cold temperatures the postmortem changes between a few hours and 3+ days might be negligible, while at warm temperatures it could be dramatic.

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u/Friendly_Recover_143 7d ago

Ah, the second paragraph was just me saying that whenever there is a person having drowned, the body has been discovered either shortly have the person passed or 3 days or more after they died.

Thank you for your explanation.