George Leigh Mallory

George Herbert Leigh Mallory

George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer born in Mobberley, Cheshire, England on June 18, 1886. During Mallory’s 3rd expedition to Everest in 1924 he, along with his climbing partner, Andrew “Sandy” Irvine went missing and never returned.

George Mallory (right) and Andrew Irvine

In 1999, a team of climbers searched Mount Everest for the bodies of the two lost explorers who may have in fact been the first people to have ever reached the mountain’s peak. During this expedition, the team discovered the remains of George Mallory on May 1st with a rope, which would have at one time connected Mallory and Irvine to one another, still tied around his waist.

Mallory’s body as it was discovered on Mount Everest. The team who went in search of him buried Mallory after documenting evidence of his identity.

He was discovered at 27,000 feet (8,230 meters), in the Death Zone and only 800 feet (150 meters) short of the summit. He was found to be mummified by the consistent subzero temperatures on Mount Everest and his body was fused to the mountain itself. He was identified by a tag inside his clothing with the name “G. Mallory” sewn onto it. It is possible that the body, believed to be Mallory’s, is actually that of Andrew Irvine who perhaps borrowed his climbing partner’s shirt on the day of his fatal climb. However, experts are nearly certain the body does belong to George Mallory. The guiding rope found tied around Mallory’s waist appeared as though it had been cut off with a knife. This piece of evidence led the team to believe Mallory had suffered a fatal fall while tied to Irvine.

Angulated fracture observed by the team who discovered Mallory’s body

Andrew Irvine was able to sever the rope which connected them and continue on the journey. Of course, Irvine perished on the mountain as well, though his remains have never been discovered. Unfortunately, neither was discovered the camera Mallory and Irvine had taken on their 1924 expedition. It is believed this camera, if found, could contain evidence that at least Irvine, or perhaps both men, had reached the peak before their demise. Although Mallory had explored the mountain on two previous occasions, the expedition in 1924 was his first attempt at summiting the mountain. Mallory, who was 37 at the time of his death, believed the 1924 expedition would be the last to the mountain, citing he was becoming too old; He confidentially proclaimed he and Irvine would reach the peak. Mallory was quite a popular man in the early 20th century, Lytton Strachey, a friend of Mallory’s (who seemingly had a steaming hot bromance with him) wrote in 1909, “Mondieu! -George Mallory! …He’s six foot high, with the body of an athlete by Praxiteles, and a face- of incredible- the mystery of Botticelli, the refinement and delicacy of a Chinese print, the youth and piquancy of an unimaginable English boy.” In 1914, ten years before his death, George Mallory married Ruth Turner and together had three children. When he died, he left behind his wife along with their two daughters, aged 9 and 7, and a 4-year-old boy. Mallory was well-remembered for his courage, a memorial to Mallory and Irvine at the Chester Cathedral in Chester, England reads, “To remember two valiant men of Cheshire, George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Corman Irvine who among the snows of Mount Everest adventured their lives even into death ‘Ascensiones in corde suo disposuit'” (translates to “Ascensions in his own heart” in Latin). George Leigh Mallory is believed to have died on the 8th or 9th of June in 1924.
The following is an excerpt from a documentary on the 1999 Mallory and Irvine expedition. Watch the team discover George Mallory’s body 75 years after he went missing on Mount Everest and give him a  long-awaited “Death Zone” burial.

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THE WALKING DEAD: Indonesia

  

 In villages occupied by the Toraja people located in the mountains of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Shamans have been raising the dead for centuries. While we might refer to the Indonesian walking dead as “zombies”, they are known by the Toraja people as “Rolang”, or “the corpse who stands up”. The only major difference between the Western world’s idea of a traditional zombie and the Indonesian version is that many people have witnessed the Rolang and luckily, they do not crave human flesh. According to the religious beliefs of the Toraja people, in order for a deceased person to reach the afterlife known as “Puya” or “The Land of Souls”, their corpse must be returned to the place of their birth for burial.

 Prior to the Dutch colonization of this area in the 20th century, the Toraja people lived in remote villages without roads connecting one to the other. Due to the difficulty of treading terrain in this mountainous region, people were terrified to journey too far in fears that their body could not be returned to their birthplace in the event of their demise. The Toraja’s beliefs state that if the body is not returned to the corpse’s village of birth, the soul will never reach Puya and will forever wander around in limbo, confused by their unfamiliar surroundings. In order to aid in transporting corpses, Shamans would be called upon to temporarily raise the dead so that they could walk back to their birthplace on their own in order to attend their funeral and begin their journey to Puya. Every August, a ritual known as Ma’nene or “The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses” takes place.

Corpse cleaning, grooming and redressing during Ma’nene

During this time, families exhume the bodies of deceased relatives in order to wash them, groom them, change their clothes and repair their coffins. The bodies are taken to the place of their death, then back to their grave in the village of origin. Often the deceased are paraded around the village in straight lines during the journey in order to observe the living;

 This is done out of respect to the ‘Hyang’, unseen spiritual entities with supernatural powers who reside in mountains, hills and volcanoes and may only move in straight lines.

 Simple wooden caskets are placed into limestone cliffs in order to make it easier for the bodies to be retrieved for Ma’nene. Some of these limestone burial caves are so old that many coffins have rotted away leaving nothing but skeleton; Some belonging to people who died 1,000 years ago.

 Generally coffins belonging to children and infants are suspended from the sides of these limestone cliffs with rope. Once the rope rots and the coffin falls, new ropes are simply reattached and the coffin is hung once more. Infants who die before beginning teething are buried in Baby Grave Trees. [Read all about The Baby Grave Tree here]

 The Toraja, who are known as skilled woodworkers carve life-sized wooden effigies for high-status villagers which are called “Tau-Tau” and are also displayed on these limestone burial cliffs. Often, the Tau-Tau are dressed with the deceased’s favorite piece of jewelry or clothing. In the Toraja culture, more importance is placed on funerals and The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses than births and marriages.

 In addition to returning to their place of birth, Toraja people believe that for a soul to reach Puya, all relatives of the family, no matter how far away, must attend the deceased’s funeral. Due to this stipulation, it can take several weeks, even several months, for the funeral to take place. While awaiting burial, the corpse is taken to a traditional ‘Tongkonan’ house. These houses are used almost exclusively as a place to keep the deceased before burial, similar to a funeral home. Tongkonan houses pass down from generation to generation and cannot be bought or sold according to the Toraja culture.

These elaborate houses are adorned with buffalo horns which are considered to be a symbol of wealth. The roofs’ shape symbolizes prows of the ships which carried the ancient Toraja people to the land they inhabit today. Less wealthy families may instead keep their loved one inside a room of their own home. Prior to burial the corpse is treated somewhat like an actual living person; The body will be washed, groomed, have changes of clothing and will even be offered daily meals.

 It is not uncommon for a visitor to thank the corpse for being a good host. The main reason the deceased are treated so much like the living is because the Toraja people believe it takes many, many years to reach Puya and that in some sense, the deceased remain with their bodies until they complete the voyage. Once all relatives (and the corpse) have arrived in the deceased’s village of birth, the funeral festivities may begin.  those attending the funeral will gather in ceremonial sites called “Rante”. Usually, hundreds of people are in attendance at Toraja funerals and for the wealthy, a massive feast is held which may last for several days. It is believed that for the soul to reach Puya more quickly, it is nessesary that blood is spilled at the funeral; The more blood spilled, the faster the journey into the afterlife will be. For this reason, buffalo and pigs are sacrificed at the ceremony. The installment of a new Tau-Tau requires the sacrifice of no less than 29 buffaloes and 59 pigs. For an exceptionally wealthy citizen, dozens of buffalo and hundreds of pigs will be slaughtered while those in attendance sing, dance and try to catch the animals’ blood with bamboo straws. Sometimes cockfights called “bulangan londong” are also held.

 Family will offer the corpse items they feel will be needed for the journey into the afterlife (commonly money and cigarettes). In modern times, bodies are usually transported in cars which means there is not much need for the walking dead; However, it is claimed that Shamans often attend funeral celebrations and can use the same magic to cause a slaughtered buffalo to get up and walk after it has been beheaded. This is to prove the same magic used to create Rolang is still practiced by the Toraja Shamans today. When Rolang was a popular method of transporting corpses to their burial site, special runners would go ahead of these walking dead (who were usually accompanied by a Shaman and family members) to warn people on the path and in villages that a corpse would be shambling through shortly.

 Once temporarily reanimated, the corpse would be expressionless, unresponsive, and only able to perform the most basic of functions such as walking. If anyone were to address the corpse by name or unnecessarily touch the body (in a hug, for instance) the corpse would immediately collapse and sometimes, disappear. These migrations to the corpse’s birthplace were also conducted in straight lines and were silent, somber affairs which could take many days, weeks or even months if the person had journeyed too far from home before their demise.

 The practice remains a complete mystery and although most young people of the Toraja culture do not believe in this ancient practice, the older Toraja population swear it to be real saying it is now only practiced in some areas where it is necessary such as the remote village of Mamases. The practice of regularly exhuming and cleaning corpses can be found in a few other parts of the world such as Madagascar. Unfortunately, it is believed to be a large part of why the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death is still prevalent in that area. During the 14th century, the Black Death killed an approximate 200 million people. The disease can last in an infected corpse for several years, putting those who exhume and handle deceased infected bodies at risk of contracting the notoriously deadly disease.
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Photos courtesy Reuters, The Associated Press, Sijori Images and Mongabay.com

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Be sure to read about another bizarre funeral rite of the Toraja, The Baby Grave Tree
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like The Zombie Cat Parasite, Pray the Decay Away: Incorruptible Corpses and Other Forms of Postmortem Preservation, The Seven Stages of Decomposition, Everybody Poops: The Postmortem Edition, Mount Everest’s Death Zone, Pascualita: How Much is that Corpse Bride in the Window, How to Drive a Corpse Cross-Country and Rasputin’s Pickled Penis on Public Display

Chilling Photo Delivered to Parents One Year After Their Children Go Missing

On Monday December 13, 1920 Jason and Jimmy Garret were playing outside when they discovered a treasure map pinned to a tree with a knife. The brothers rushed inside to notify their parents of the discovery. Mr. and Mrs. Garret believed their sons were telling a tall tale and sent them back outside; The Garret brothers did not return home. After their disappearance, family and investigators were unable to find this “treasure map” the young boys claimed to have found the last time they were seen. It is believed Jimmy and Jason went off in search of the treasure on their own but instead of leading them to riches, it lead them to a twisted killer who had left the map in hopes of luring children to their deaths. Although Jason and Jimmy Garret were never seen again, one year after their disappearance, a photo of the two boys lying in a grave with a skeleton was slipped under the front door of their former home. This terrifying tale, which has made its rounds on the internet, most likely has no truth behind it. Whether the story is a false or not, the photograph leads one to wonder the real reasons behind the capture of this fascinating photo.

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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like Mummified Corpses of Little Girls Transformed Into Russian Dolls, Scared to Death: An April Fool’s Day Fatality, George Leigh Mallory, Amarjeet Sada: The World’s Youngest Serial Killer, Laura Belle Devlin, The Genesee Hotel Suicide, Herb Baumeister and the Horrors of Fox Hollow, The Most Beautiful Suicide, Stories of Spontaneous Human Combustion: Part One and Part Two, Thich Quang Duc: Monk on Fire, Turbine Inferno, Imaginary Murders on the Rise, John Wilkes Booth’s Disturbing Artwork and Possible Relatives: Tina Enghoff Photographs Homes of the Recently Deceased for New Exhibition

Survivors of Spontaneous Human Combustion

In 2013 a 9-day-old infant, “Baby Rahul”, made headlines when his mother, Rajeshwari Karnan admitted him to a local hospital in India to seek treatment for his burns which she claimed were caused by spontaneous combustion. Rahul was discovered lying in his bed, on fire, by a neighbor who heard the child’s screams. Professor R. Jayachandran, Rahul Karnan’s pediatrician believed his burns may have been caused by gasses expelling through his skin and theorized it may be a genetic condition. Twenty-five year old Rajeshwari has an older daughter, Narmatha, who has never suffered a believed instance of SHC. Since Rahul’s initial incident, Rajeshwari claims her son has spontaneously ignited on three other occasions. In January 2015 Rajeshwari Karnan admitted Rahul’s 10-day-old baby brother to Kilpauk Hospital in India after his feet supposedly caught fire while she was in the bath. The unnamed baby’s had burns covering 10% of his feet and had to spend over one month in the hospital recovering. The hospital was incredibly reluctant to release the newborn from the believing one of the parents, most likely Rajeshwari, was suffering from Munchausen by proxy syndrome and had set fire to her own children for attention. “Munchausen Moms”, mothers who harm their children to gain attention and sympathy (usually by way of slowly poisoning their children) have gained infamy in the past few decades as this mental illness which can affect either parent, but usually the mother, has seemingly become more widespread. Hospital dean Narayana Babu stated, “All tests reveal he [unnamed Baby Karnan] is completely normal. The parents went through psychiatric counselling and were found to be normal.”. The Karnans told reporters their community has ostracized them after the repeated burnings of their two children.

Frank Baker claims he has survived repeated instances of “partial spontaneous combustion” which he was diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor who supposedly diagnosed Frank with “partial spontaneous combustion” has never come forward or been mentioned by name. The first time Frank burst into flames, it was witnessed by a close friend. Frank claims he has spontaneously combusted three times since the initial incident. For several years, Frank Baker has been soliciting money for “Spontaneous Combustion Research”. I am not convinced, but here is his story in his own words.

Jack Angel is probably the most well-known survivor of SHC when in fact, he never experienced spontaneous combustion nor did he claim to. On November 12, 1974 Jack Angel was taking a shower in his mobile home in Savannah, Georgia when the water suddenly stopped flowing. When he went to check the water pressure, he was sprayed with scalding hot water. Jack Angel filed a civil-action suit in the Fulton County Superior Court over the burns which he received after being sprayed by the faulty water tank. Somehow, the accounts of this run-of-the-mill lawsuit has morphed into a wildly false story of surviving spontaneous human combustion. Today, people claim Jack Angel fell asleep on a water mattress and awoke to find a hole burnt in his stomach but his clothing intact. During the lawsuit with the water mattress company a doctor confirmed at the trial that Jack Angel had burned from the inside out.
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Evidence Suggests Spontaneous Human Combustion is a Reality

The phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) has baffled open-minded scientists for centuries. One of the earliest claims occurred prior to April 4, 1731 when details on the death of Countess Bandi of Cesena (Italy) were published. Remains of the sixty-two year old Countess were discovered by her maid the morning after her demise when she failed to emerge from her room at her usual time. All that was left of Countess Bandi was three fingers, two legs from the knee down (still wearing stockings), a charred skull (parts of which had burned away completely) and a pile of ash. A foul-smelling, greasy, yellowish fluid was found dripping from the windows in the room and evidence suggested the Countess had calmly gotten out of her bed while on fire and walked several feet before succumbing to the flames. This case is most likely one of the many false accounts of spontaneous human combustion as the Countess was well-known for lathering herself in camphor oil, a highly flammable substance. Two burned-out candles were noticed near the bed when the Countess’s body was discovered. Unfortunately, due to the large volume of blatantly false claims of SHC skeptics tend to ignore evidence which suggests it is possible and jump to the conclusion that every case was caused by the victim standing too close to a candle or falling asleep while smoking a cigarette. In the 1700s and 1800s, spontaneous human combustion was a very popular writing topic; Many famous authors including Charles Dickens and Herman Melville mentioned this mysterious cause of death in their stories. In the 1800s, the belief was that spontaneous combustion became possible when a person drank so much liquor that their body was completely saturated in alcohol, causing the person to become flammable. Those with religious inclinations believed that it was “divine retribution” and victims of SHC had angered God and been struck down with a lightning bolt. Another less-popular theory at the time was that mystical lights referred to as “will-o’-the-wisps” which were sometimes seen rising from stagnant marshes were to blame. Astoundingly, the will-o’-the-wisps theory is closest to the truth. These strange lights, often mentioned in folklore, were caused by methane gasses being released from decomposing vegetable matter underwater. Humans and animals also produce and release methane, hydrogen and phosphate through bacterial action in the digestive system. Luckily, if and when these gasses come into contact with a flame, you will not spontaneously combust; If that were the case, people would be catching fire right and left. However, diphosphane, a substance related to phosphorus, would cause a person to spontaneously combust under the right conditions. Until rather recently, it was believed that human production of diphosophane was highly unlikely. In 2000 German researcher John Emsley published his findings on spontaneous human combustion in The Shocking History of Phosphorus. In his research he found that human feces contains both phosphate and diphosphane. In incredibly rare cases, diphosphane levels could build up in a person overtime and if it were to encounter oxygen in the body, could ignite a pocket of methane and phosphate causing a person to burst into flames from the inside out. This corroborates with convincing accounts of supposed SHC in which the fire appears to originate in the stomach area. Of course, it would be incredibly rare that this would occur; Brian J. Ford’s theory of what may cause spontaneous combustion is certainly more likely. Humans naturally produce acetone, a highly flammable substance. It is used to break down fat in the body and will evaporate into the air as a person naturally burns fat through exercise or other means. It has a very distinct smell, usually sweet and fruity as was described by Don Gosnell who discovered the remains of Dr. John Irving Bentley. One major fact used by skeptics when attempting to explain away possible cases of spontaneous human combustion is that the body could not burn internally when the human body contains so much fluid; Acetone, however, mixes well with water. Brian J. Ford explains, “There is one highly flammable constituent of the body that can greatly increase in concentration… If the body’s cells are starved (which can occur during chronic illness and even during a workout at the gym), acetyl-CoA in the liver is converted into acetoacetate, which can decarboxylate into acetone. And acetone in highly flammable. A wide range of conditions can produce ketosis, in which acetone is formed, including alcoholism, high-fat low-carbohydrate dieting, diabetes and even teething.”. This makes sense considering most who supposedly parish through spontaneous combustion are alcoholics, seniors and/or over-weight. In order to prove his theory, Ford conducted an experiment in which he created scale models of humans out of pork tissue, marinated them in acetone and clothed them before igniting the models which, “Burned to ash within half an hour.”. Ford went on to describe, “The remains- a pile of smoking cinders with protruding limbs- were exactly like the photographs of human victims.”.
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If you enjoyed this article you might also like A Witness to Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Stories of SHC, Cause of Death: Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Stories of SHC, Survivors of Spontaneous Human Combustion, Evidence Supports Sixth Sense in Humans, Scientists Have Answered the Question ‘If a Tree Falls in the Forest, Does it Make a Sound?, Everybody Poops: The Post-Mortem Edition, Thich Quang Duc: Monk on Fire, Pray the Decay Away: Incorruptible Corpses and Other Forms of Natural Postmortem Preservation, The Zombie Cat Parasite and Children’s Memories of Death in Their Past Life

Pascualita: How Much is that Corpse Bride in the Window?

 In downtown Chihuahua, Mexico a mannequin, which has been on display in the window at the “La Popular” bridal shop for over 75 years, is rumored to be an impeccably embalmed corpse. It is said that the original owner of the store, Pascuala Esparza, was a talented designer and seamstress. She created gorgeous gowns in her bridal boutique so of course, when her daughter, Pascualita, was to be married, Pascuala Esparza made her the dress of her dreams. Sadly, on the day of Pascualita’s wedding, she was bitten by a black widow spider and died before she could marry her intended. Pascuala was devastated by her daughter’s sudden death and, after having the body embalmed, decided to dress Pascualita in her wedding gown. She displayed her body in the window of “La Popular” on March 25, 1930 and it has remained there ever since.

This caused quite a bit of uproar from residents of Chihuahua who weren’t too thrilled knowing they would be walking past the corpse of a young woman on a regular basis. Eventually, most citizens became used to Pascualita staring at them through the window as they strolled around downtown. Som revel in the presence of this local oddity and view her as a sort of landmark which brings in a flock of tourists from Europe, South America and the United States each year. This story however, may be entirely, or at least partially legend. Many older residents of the area swear the body is truly that of the deceased Pascualita Esparza but just as many claim that shortly after the town went into an uproar over her display in the window, Pascuala made a statement that the body was not her deceased daughter. Obviously, the most logical theory is that Pascualita is a very life-like mannequin that was incredibly impressive for the time period; Perhaps Pascuala started an itty bitty rumor in an attempt to draw in customers to the store. One thing which keeps people questioning the authenticity of Pascualita is the small, lifelike and possibly decomposition related-imperfections such as the deep folds of her palm.

 La Popular employee Sonia Burciaga is the lucky lady who has been bestowed with the task of changing the dress on the questionable corpse twice a week. Sonia confessed, “Everytime I go near Pascualita my hands break out in a sweat. Her hands are very realistic and she even has varicose veins on her legs. I believe she’s a real person.”

 You may still be wondering how a body that has been dead and on display for over 75 rears has not begun to decompose. While the exact method of preservation in the hypothetical case of Pascualita remains a mystery, avoiding decomposition for an expanded period of time is not impossible. Incorruptible corpses, bodies that do not decay, were considered by the Catholic Church to be a miracle up until quite recently when it was discovered that the prevention of decomposition was caused by conditions within the tomb in which the body was laid to rest. These “Incorruptible” bodies did not appear to decompose for several decades and when they did, it was usually due to relocation of the corpse. The reason the bodies which have been moved and put on display still have not decomposed is due in part to regular “treatments” the bodies undergo to maintain the natural preservation. It is possible that somehow, with the aid of her environment, Pascualita’s body was able to avoid decomposition through a mixture of artificial and natural embalming. Her waxy skin tone is almost identical to the flesh of Incorruptible corpses. Some of the more wild claims about the body of Pascualita are that her eyes follow you around the store, she changes positions at night and there are even stories that a French magician visits the store at night, brings Pascualita to life and takes her out on the town. Whether you believe Pascualita is an incredibly life-like mannequin or a real dead body, I think we can all agree on one thing: Pascualita is not dating a mysterious French magician.

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