My own personal thoughts on the missing tongue is that yes, it could have been from insects/fish but why was the tongue exposed in the first place? It appears from the autopsy Lyudia had red substance in her stomach, which could have been blood. I don't know what else it could have been. If the tongue was cut/bitten and there was blood in the mouth, that would signal insects/fish to that area of her body. I can only assume the eyes were the result of insects/fish/decay. But the tongue very well may have been bitten half off which would draw predatory insects.
How far into the water was her body and for how long? total of 3 months or only wet for 1 month or even 2 weeks? This info would factor into the tongue being eaten by insects as otherwise she was frozen completely until starting to defrost. Dyatlov was frozen but pretty much exposed and his eyes were not missing. So, it is a question and a mystery.
That is my thought on the tongue being missing....
My own personal thoughts on the missing tongue is that yes, it could have been from insects/fish but why was the tongue exposed in the first place? It appears from the autopsy Lyudia had red substance in her stomach, which could have been blood. I don't know what else it could have been. If the tongue was cut/bitten and there was blood in the mouth, that would signal insects/fish to that area of her body. I can only assume the eyes were the result of insects/fish/decay. But the tongue very well may have been bitten half off which would draw predatory insects.
How far into the water was her body and for how long? total of 3 months or only wet for 1 month or even 2 weeks? This info would factor into the tongue being eaten by insects as otherwise she was frozen completely until starting to defrost. Dyatlov was frozen but pretty much exposed and his eyes were not missing. So, it is a question and a mystery.
That is my thought on the tongue being missing....
The red substance in the stomach probably was blood. The question is where was it from. There are several plausible explanations including:
Bleeding from the nose. Lyuda’s nose cartilage was flattened, possibly by some kind of impact/blow. It could have been blood from this. It could have been from bleedingl lips, gums etc or it could be because her tongue was bitten off or ripped out.
You make a good point about the partial damage biting of the tongue and subsequent acceleration of decay. I think it is a good question about how long the body was in the water.
I don’t think we will be able to answer all these questions with any certainty without additional forensic evidence though.
Sometimes though, the absence of evidence is almost as striking as the evidence itself imo. A kind of smoking gun as the saying goes. An example of this imp is the absence of detailed forensic information about the foot prints.
Everything leaves a trace.
Regards
Star man