Forensics

	Lividity	Hyoid bone	Signs of hypothermia	Other observations
Doroshenko	face down on the back*	intact	meninges oedema strong hyperaemia in the internal organs cardiac cavities full of dark liquid blood** petechiae in the gastric mucosa (known as Wischnewsky spots) full bladder 150 cm3 (5 oz) III and IV degree frostbite of fingers and toes Autopsy report   March 4, 1959	Around the nasal ridge, the nasal tip and the upper lip, there are clotted blood traces. Around the right cheek, the soft tissue is covered with a layer of foamy grey fluid. Grey fluid traces are also visible around the opening of the mouth. But if he wasn't moved, why was he found sprawled like that? I consulted Ivan Stoyanov M.D. Expert Forensic Medicine. He told me that if a body is unidentified or the relatives can come right away it goes in a special chambers. Recently a foreigner died, the family was contacted and made travel arrangements. The bodies was taken out of the freezer. But the flight was canceled (Covid times) so the body went into the freezer again. When they finally got it out for transportation some liquid came out of his nostrils - grey and foamy. So the fact that Doroshenko's right cheek was covered with foamy grey fluid is not conclusive that he couldn't been washed.
Krivonischenko	face up on the back	intact	swelling of the meninges blood-filled internal organs overfilling of the pericardium with dark liquid blood** existence of Wischnewsky spots on the folds of the stomach overfilled bladder 500 cm3 (17 oz) frostbite on the fingers and toes burns of the II-III degree Autopsy report   March 4, 1959
Dyatlov	face up on the back	intact	swelling of the meninges hyperaemia of the internal organs cardiac cavities full of dark liquid blood** Wischnewsky spots on the gastric mucosa overfilled bladder 1 liter (34 oz) III and IV degree frostbite on the extremities Autopsy report   March 4, 1959	The lips are of bluish purple color and covered in clotted blood. Dyatlov is the only one whose cadaveric spots match the position in which he was found (on the back). All others do not match
Kolmogorova	right side on the back*	intact	swelling of the meninges hyperaemia of the internal organs cardiac cavities full of dark liquid blood** Wischnewsky spots on the gastric mucosa overfilled bladder 200 cm3 (6 oz) IV degree frostbite on the fingers Autopsy report   March 4, 1959
Slobodin	face down on the back*	intact	swelling of the meninges blood-filled internal organs the heart contains up to 100 cm3 of dark liquid blood** Wischnewsky spots on the gastric mucosa overfilled bladder 200 cm3 (6 oz) III and IV degree frostbite on the fingers Autopsy report   March 8, 1959	There is a trail of caked blood coming from the opening of the nose + the icy bed under the body. This observation and conclusion was mentioned in Akselrod's testimony, but he hasn't seen the rest of the bodies when they were found, so if Akselrod was the only one registering the fact, then the rest just might as well have icy beds that nobody testified about. At least we have one dying spot that looks like hasn't been doctored... unless his clothes were wet. His body could have been in the river.
Dubinina	face down on the back*	unusual mobility	Autopsy report   May 9, 1959
Zolotaryov	on his back on the back	intact	overfilled bladder 500 cm3 (17 oz) Autopsy report   May 9, 1959	Zolotaryov soiled himself (signs of defecation from the rectum). They could have washed him somewhat and then put back the soiled clothes, and this is how he got dirty again.
Kolevatov	right side on the side	intact	the heart contains up to 100 cm3 of dark liquid blood** overfilled bladder 700 cm3 (23 oz) Autopsy report   May 9, 1959	deformed neck in the area of the thyroid cartilage
Thibeaux-Brignolle	face up on the side*	intact	Autopsy report   May 9, 1959

* Author Alexey Rakitin offers an interesting theory about the discrepancies in the autopsy reports about the livor mortis.

** Some sources say that signs of death from hypothermia are light colored blood (excess oxygen) and the presence of blood clots, since death from hypothermia is relatively slow. In Dyatlov's group, the blood at autopsies is dark. The absence of blood clots is interpreted by some researchers as fast, i.e. criminal. But according to Blossfeld-Diberg-Raisky, blood can be dark in death caused by hypothermia and blood clots can break up during thawing i.e. the absence of blood clots and the color of the blood cannot be indicators of whether death occurred as a result of hypothermia. I discussed the problem with M.D. Vasil Nikolchev, Head of the Forensic Department in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. He made the autopsy of the woman who was killed by a tree that fell on top of her tent on 7/7/2020.

Dr. Nikolchev agreed that the common perception is for light colored blood to be found in frozen corpses, but the blood can be dark, too. And the blood clots may dissolve during thawing. Then he handed me the following scientific paper and said "We all (the MD) keep looking for answers in books till the last day of our practice."
In "Death by Hypothermia" by M.D. Sergey Kostadinov on p. 10 it says how many autopsies are taken in consideration - 3265 in the span of 5 years. Many parameters are taken into account - age, gender, life style, health, latitude, climate, alcohol, genetics, I can even remember all you are welcome to leaf through t, sorry that it is in Bulgarian but I ma sure you can find a way to translate it if it comes to that. On page 28 there is a table that shows what are the % for bright/scarlet blood - 49%. Right in the middle.

I asked Dr. Nikolchev for his opinion on refreezing the bodies: "All kinds of things can happen when a body is thawed - change of color, rapid decomposition and all kinds of fluids can start coming out." He wasn't sure about defecation. Dr. Nikolchev said that in his 29 year practice he had only seen hanged people soil themselves, but not all of them do it. Common knowledge is that people dying from hypothermia have more urine in their bladder. They just do not urinate. There is no explanation about that, they just don't. But it is not a rule. The MD was kind of upset because he saw that I am expecting more certainty in his answers. He said that every illness, every condition, everything concerning the body can develop atypically. The coroner merely records an observation. Certain things are more of a symptom for further exploration e.g. discoloration means poisoning - make a test for certain poison.
"Foam coming from the mouth and nose can happen when the heart stops, too. It is not indicative of a certain cause of death."

Teodora Hadjiyska and M.D. Marina Miteva

Dr. Nikolchev's opinion on the three fractures on Zolotaryov's scapula - he totally agrees with M.D. Marina Miteva, who during an autopsy of a man who fell from the 5th floor explained to me, that if you won't open the body from the back you won't see the fractured scapula. They rarely cut bodies from the back, only when they have a probable cause to expect to find something. In the case of the woman that Dr. Nikolchev autopsied - he didn't cut her from the back. If she had a fractured scapula he wouldn't see it in the autopsy. Nowadays they have diagnostic imaging. The body I was observing being autopsied in Ruse had fallen from the 5th floor. A lot of damage was expected so in this case the body goes through a CT (Computed tomography) scan first so the medical examiner knows in advance what to look for. Marina cut the body from the front and the back. More important is that Dr. Nikolchev said that if a tree had caused the rest of the damage on Zolotaryov, the three fractures on the scapula are consistent with this trauma.

 

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Hypothermia

The behavior that led to the bizarre circumstances for the Dyatlov group death must have been a response to something extraordinary. My theory is that the survivors of the blow that killed Dubinina, Zolotaryov and Thibeaux-Brignolle died form exertional fatigue and stress induced hypothermia. There is something called "hiker's hypothermia":

Exertional fatigue and cold exposure: mechanisms of hiker's hypothermia - Andrew J Young, John W Castellani

Cold thermoregulatory responses following exertional fatigue. - Castellani JW, Sawka MN, DeGroot DW, Young AJ.

Exertion-induced fatigue and thermoregulation in the cold. - Young AJ, Castellani JW.

Human physiological responses to cold exposure: Acute responses and acclimatization to prolonged exposure. - Castellani JW, Young AJ.

Thermoregulation during cold exposure after several days of exhaustive exercise. - Castellani JW, Young AJ, Degroot DW, Stulz DA, Cadarette BS, Rhind SG, Zamecnik J, Shek PN, Sawka MN.

Stress-induced hyperthermia and hypothermia - Takakazu Oka

Postmortem diagnosis of hypothermia - Cristian Palmiere, Grzegorz Teresiński, Petr Hejna.

Refreezing

Modern time studies confirm that re-freezing can be diagnosed by just looking at MRI or CT scan results, among others. This technology wasn't available back then.

The effect of repeated freeze-thaw cycles on human muscle tissue visualized by postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) - Anthony C. Klop, Marloes E.M. Vester, Kerri L. Colman, Jan M. Ruijter, Rick R. Van Rijn, Roelof-Jan Oostra

The effect of freeze-thawing on magnetic resonance imaging T2* of freshly harvested bovine patellar tendon - Sarah L. Pownder, Parina H. Shah, Hollis G. Potter, Matthew F. Koff

Defrosting a Frozen Corpse and Other Mysterious Oddities. - James Hayman