Date of the incident

[Missi]

As I said in another post, at the moment I'm trying to get different views on the whole thing. In the process of doing so, I started wondering:

What exactly makes everyone think, they died in the night of Feb 1 to 2?

Sure, there's the Evening Otorten dated Feb 1st. There's the fact, that there are no diary entries past that date. But then again we believe that there's photos missing, pages missing, whole diaries missing.

It seems to be established, that there were no tracks past the point where the tent was found. And taking into account, that they were on the move, it makes sense to assume, they would have gone further, if they were still alive on Feb 2nd.

But what if...?
What if they had passed the whole day of Feb 2nd there, maybe because of the weather, maybe because of the wounded ankle of (I forgot whose ankle it was...).
Did anyone ever check the weather conditions and so on for the nights following?

Maybe it's a stupid question. But then again what would we not know if no one had asked seemingly stupid questions. So forgive me. ;)

[GlennM]

Missi, as you put it so well, there is no evidence they went beyond their camo towards Ortoten, but there is abundant evidence that they made their heroic bid for life in the vicinity of their last camp. That being the case, then it gets down to what made them stay. It appears they made slow progress the day they pitched their final camp. If, as you surmise the atmospheric conditions prevented them to move by line of sight.then those same conditions were responsible for the collapse,of their tent. Let's see is anyone else can come up with an explanation.

[RMK]

As I said in another post, at the moment I'm trying to get different views on the whole thing. In the process of doing so, I started wondering:

What exactly makes everyone think, they died in the night of Feb 1 to 2?

Sure, there's the Evening Otorten dated Feb 1st. There's the fact, that there are no diary entries past that date. But then again we believe that there's photos missing, pages missing, whole diaries missing.

It seems to be established, that there were no tracks past the point where the tent was found. And taking into account, that they were on the move, it makes sense to assume, they would have gone further, if they were still alive on Feb 2nd.

But what if...?
What if they had passed the whole day of Feb 2nd there, maybe because of the weather, maybe because of the wounded ankle of (I forgot whose ankle it was...).
Did anyone ever check the weather conditions and so on for the nights following?

Maybe it's a stupid question. But then again what would we not know if no one had asked seemingly stupid questions. So forgive me. ;)

It's not a stupid question, Missi, and it has been asked before--for example, by Manti:

Well, actually, the autopsies do not mention date of death. Which is good as it would be speculation on the coroner's part. Usually, a guess can be made about this based on the state of decomposition, taking into account local weather conditions etc. But freezing completely prevents that so in this case there is very little to go by. Sunlight will still have an effect but snow covered them an unknown time after death, so it's only possible to guess that timespan and not time since death. Plus there might have been cloudy days.


The investigator did think they died on the 2nd... But that doesn't make it a fact. It is just a guess based on the diaries and how far along they were on their route and how long it could have taken from their last campsite to get there.

There are many cases of missing persons being ultimately found close to where they were last seen, yet their time of death indicating that they were alive for days or even weeks. In some of those cases, they might have been lost and going in circles, gone somewhere and returned, been unable to move due to injury or captivity, stayed there due to the belief that is the location where they are most likely to be rescued, and other reasons. Some of these reasons might also apply to the Dyatlov group, we don't know. There is a range of possible dates and picking 2nd of February is rather arbitrary and is not the median of this range and let me say... it is actually quite unlikely that 9 people in differing clothing, different health etc. would die on the same day if the cause of death is the elements.

So unless the authorities have some additional information we don't, 1st or 2nd Feb is just a guess.

In support of the Dyatlov group's date of death being Feb 02 1959, I point out the following:

• No further progress along their proposed route.
• No further diary entries.
• The searchers (as far as we know) found no evidence of a prolonged stay at the group's apparent campsite.  Think about that in particular...if a party of 9 people camps at the same place for multiple days, they will leave signs of their presence.  Rubbish will accumulate and need to be disposed of, as will ash from campfires; traces of humans going to the toilet will accumulate and linger as well.

[Missi]

If, as you surmise the atmospheric conditions prevented them to move by line of sight.then those same conditions were responsible for the collapse,of their tent. Let's see is anyone else can come up with an explanation.

I am not convinced their tent collapsed while they where still inside. Yet that's another thing to discuss.
I never argued against the conditions being their death. I just asked, if we were sure it happened on Feb 1 to 2 and not maybe one night later.

Thanks, @RMK, for your quote. I didn't find Mansi's post. That was exactly what I was wondering about. And as you put it, it is probable according to the facts that there were no further entries in the diaries and they didn't progress further on their tour. Yet if there were entries removed, that point is invalid. Also there might have been reasons for not progressing for a day or two.
Your third point however, is a very good one towards the date of Feb 1 to 2. Gotto think about that for a while...

[Manti]

Consider the case of the "Yuba county Five". Some survived for only hours or days, but Ted Weiher apparently survived for 3(?) months.Of course he found shelter but didn't switch on the heating... not that different from the Mansi hut they saw on their way to the pass and could have backtracked to.

I think it's really unlikely for the Dyatlov hikers to have all died on the same day, considering some were in the forest (possibly in a snow cave) and some on the slope, exposed to the wind.

[Missi]

Don't you think, if they didn't die shortly after one another, they would have wandered off more? As in using the light hours of the following day to get deeper into the forest, where the wind is less, and build a shelter there, using branches and maybe snow?

[ilahiyol]

Don't you think, if they didn't die shortly after one another, they would have wandered off more? As in using the light hours of the following day to get deeper into the forest, where the wind is less, and build a shelter there, using branches and maybe snow?

Ditto. The event certainly occurred on the evening of January 31st or the night of February 1. And they couldn't get out in the morning.

[RMK]

Consider the case of the "Yuba county Five". Some survived for only hours or days, but Ted Weiher apparently survived for 3(?) months.Of course he found shelter but didn't switch on the heating... not that different from the Mansi hut they saw on their way to the pass and could have backtracked to.

I think it's really unlikely for the Dyatlov hikers to have all died on the same day, considering some were in the forest (possibly in a snow cave) and some on the slope, exposed to the wind.

Do you happen to know the original source of the claim that Weiher could have lived for as long as 13 weeks?  I know that it was likely a local newspaper, but whom did the newspaper's reporter ask about how long Weiher could have lived?  If it was a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy, then I'd believe it.  If it was just the highest-ranking law-enforcement official at the trailer--who could only claim authority over the scene, but not any forensic-medical expertise--then I have a lot of skepticism.