64 lines
3.5 KiB
Plaintext
64 lines
3.5 KiB
Plaintext
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MARY REESER:
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A Case Study in
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Spontaneous Human Combustion
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The 1951 death of Mrs. Mary Reeser of St. Petersburg, FL, who was found reduced
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to ashes in a practically undamaged apartment, was a landmark case of
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spontaneous human combustion because it was the first instance where every
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possible tool of modern scientific investigation was used to determine the
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cause of this mysterious phenomenon. Yet despite the efforts of the FBI, fire
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officials, arson experts, and pathologists, a year after the incident Detective
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Cass Burgess of the St. Petersburg police commented as follows:
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Our investigation has turned up nothing that could
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be singled out as proving, beyond a doubt, what
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actually happened. The case is still open. We are
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still as far from establishing any logical cause
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for the death as we were when we first entered
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Mrs. Reeser's apartment.
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And Dr. Wilton M. Krogman, a physical anthropologist at the University of
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Pennsylvania's School of Medicine and a world-renowned expert on the effects of
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fire on the human body, finally gave up trying to figure out what happened. Dr.
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Krogman said:
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I regard it as the most amazing thing I have ever
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seen. As I review it, the short hairs on my neck
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bristle with vague fear. Were I living in the Middle
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Ages, I'd mutter something about Black Magic.
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Here are the details of the case:
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Mrs. Mary Hardy Reeser, an agreeable, motherly widow of 67, was living in St.
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Petersburg, Florida, to be near her son, Dr. Richard Reeser. On the evening of
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July 1, 1951, she had remained in her son's home with one of her grandchildren
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while the rest of the family went to the beach. When they returned, they found
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that Mrs. Reeser had already left for her own apartment. The younger Mrs.
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Reeser drove to her mother-in-law's to see if everything was all right.
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According to her testimony, there was nothing in Mrs. Reeser's appearance or
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demeanor to cause any alarm. Dr. Reeser visited his mother later that evening.
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She was mildly depressed over the fact that she had not heard from two friends
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who were supposed to rent an apartment for her in anticipation of a return trip
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to Columbia, PA, formerly her hometown. His mother told him that she wished to
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retire early and would take two sleeping pills to ensure a good night's rest.
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Dr. Reeser left at about 8:30 PM and returned to his home.
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The last person to see Mrs. Reeser alive was her landlady, Mrs. Pansy M.
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Carpenter, who lived in another apartment in the four-unit building (the two
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units between them were unoccupied). Mrs. Carpenter saw Mrs. Reeser briefly at
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about 9 PM. She was wearing her nightgown, a housecoat, and black satin
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slippers and was lounging in a comfortable chair smoking a cigarette. The bed
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covers had been turned back. Mrs. Reeser's last night was a typical summer
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night in Florida: the sky was overcast with occasional flashes of heat
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lightning in the distance.
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When Mrs. Carpenter woke up Monday morning at 5AM, she noticed a slight odor of
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smoke but was not alarmed, since she attributed the smell to a water pump in
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the garage that had been overheating lately. She got up, turned off the pump,
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and settled back into bed. When she got up an hour later to collect her
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newspaper outside, she no longer smelled any smoke.
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[CONTINUED IN SHC2.TXT]
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