Time of Death?

[ElizabethHarris]

Why were authorities so certain they died on February 1? I would think that the bodies being as frozen as they were for weeks before they were found, there would have been preservation of organs, lack of insect activity etc. making the exact day of death impossible to pinpoint. Every record says they went into their tent on January 31 and died the following day. I don't see how they can know this.

[Manti]

Based on the fact the group kept a diary that they updated every day, and also that their last campsite in the valley is known and the date they camped there is recorded in the diary.


But I agree that the authorities shouldn't have been so sure... they knew the group didn't break camp and move on from the slope, so it can be assumed they died within a day of setting up the tent there... but I think it should have been considered a possibility that they (or some of them) remained there for multiple days for whatever reason, or even that they didn't all die on the same day, for example those who managed to build a snow cave (if that's true), had some chance of surviving for a few days, they had drinking water as the stream was nearby. They had firewood and matches.

[ElizabethHarris]

OK, that makes total sense about the diary ending on the 31st. I completely agree with you. I still think, like you said, it is possible, if not likely, that the 4 who were found at the second crime scene did not perish on the same day as the other 5. How in the world would they build a snow shelter in the middle of the night? I agree the 4 died days later after the initial attack.