Who are the victims of Spontaneous Human Combustion?
_In the past 300 years there have been about 200 reports of SHC all over the world. Most of the victims who suffer from SHC are usually older, overweight, and by themselves when it happens. Victims have been both male and female, and young and old. SHC tends to strike women more than men without an apparent reason. Out of all the victims of SHC only young boys or teenage men have been exempt from the various cases. Below are some of the victims of SHC along with a description of how SHC took their lives.
Note: Spontaneous human combustion is a controversy and over times stories have been partially changed. Some websites and books have stories that differ from others.
Note: Spontaneous human combustion is a controversy and over times stories have been partially changed. Some websites and books have stories that differ from others.
Nicole Millet
Nicole Millet had a tragic death along with the many other SHC victims. She died on February 20, 1725 in her home in Rheims, France. The Millets had gone to bed but Nicole Millet couldn't fall asleep so she went to the kitchen to warm herself up. At 2 a.m. in the morning Mr. Millet was awoken due to a strange odor. He got out of bed to see what caused the smell. When he got to the kitchen he found the remains and ashes of his wife.
Like most of the SHC cases, the area around her was nearly unharmed. During the investigation Mr. Millet was arrested for murder of his wife. Mr. Millet's had his lawyer convince the court that he did not murder her so he was free to go. The final verdict of Nicole Millet's death was a visitation from God.
Like most of the SHC cases, the area around her was nearly unharmed. During the investigation Mr. Millet was arrested for murder of his wife. Mr. Millet's had his lawyer convince the court that he did not murder her so he was free to go. The final verdict of Nicole Millet's death was a visitation from God.
_Countess Cornelia di Bandi of Cesena, Italy
_Cornelia Bandi was 62 years old when she purportedly died of SHC. She died on April 4, 1731 sometime in her sleep. Her maid went to check up on her when the countess didn't wake up at her usual time. All the maid found was a part of the countess' head, legs, arms, and the ashes of the countess all over the floor.
In her room there was soot in the air of the room. Her window dripped with a greasy, yellowish liquid with an odd stench. Investigators described her room similar to any other spontaneous human combustion case.
Investigators thought the cause of her death was because she often lathered herself in a highly flammable, strong scented compound called camphor which relieves aches and rashes. They suspected that she tripped and fell on an oil lamp and set herself on fire. Though nobody really knows what happened.
In her room there was soot in the air of the room. Her window dripped with a greasy, yellowish liquid with an odd stench. Investigators described her room similar to any other spontaneous human combustion case.
Investigators thought the cause of her death was because she often lathered herself in a highly flammable, strong scented compound called camphor which relieves aches and rashes. They suspected that she tripped and fell on an oil lamp and set herself on fire. Though nobody really knows what happened.
Phyllis Newcombe
Phyllis Newcombe had a tragic death on a dance floor, and many versions of her death have been recorded. One version, she was twirling on the dance floor with her fiancé on August 27, 1938, and at the strike of midnight she somehow caught on fire. Within two minutes she was reduced to a pile of ashes in the middle of the dance floor.
In another version of the story, she and her fiancé were leaving the dance floor when the bottom of her dress caught fire. She ran back to the dance hall as the flames rose quickly. She collapsed and many people tried to extinguish the flames with their coats, while others called for an ambulance. About twenty minutes had passed before the ambulance finally came to her.
She was in the hospital with very severe burns all over her body, yet they said she was in "fairly satisfactory" condition. On September 5, 1938 Phyllis Newcombe died due to hypostatic pneumonia which is a form a pneumonia when someone weak or elderly had been in bed or on their back for an extended period of time.
Right after her death, her fiancé asked for an examination for her death. There were various theories for her death. Her fiancé thought that maybe a cigarette butt had set her dress aflame, so Phyllis Newcombe's father brought in the fabric of her dress and tested it. The fabric did not set on fire from a cigarette. Her fiancé also said that her dress had been cleaned six weeks before the dance, and maybe the chemical in the cleaning supplies somehow set her dress on fire. The final verdict was that she had an accidental death for an unknown reason.
In another version of the story, she and her fiancé were leaving the dance floor when the bottom of her dress caught fire. She ran back to the dance hall as the flames rose quickly. She collapsed and many people tried to extinguish the flames with their coats, while others called for an ambulance. About twenty minutes had passed before the ambulance finally came to her.
She was in the hospital with very severe burns all over her body, yet they said she was in "fairly satisfactory" condition. On September 5, 1938 Phyllis Newcombe died due to hypostatic pneumonia which is a form a pneumonia when someone weak or elderly had been in bed or on their back for an extended period of time.
Right after her death, her fiancé asked for an examination for her death. There were various theories for her death. Her fiancé thought that maybe a cigarette butt had set her dress aflame, so Phyllis Newcombe's father brought in the fabric of her dress and tested it. The fabric did not set on fire from a cigarette. Her fiancé also said that her dress had been cleaned six weeks before the dance, and maybe the chemical in the cleaning supplies somehow set her dress on fire. The final verdict was that she had an accidental death for an unknown reason.
Mary Reeser "Cinder Woman"
Mary Reeser, an elderly, overweight woman, died of SHC on July 1, 1951. It was early in the morning, and Pansy Carpenter, Mary Reeser's landlady, smelt an awful smoke smell, but she ignored it. At 8 a.m. Pansy Carpenter went to check on Mary, but the door handle was so hot that she screamed, which grabbed the attention of two workmen.
When they pushed opened the door they couldn't find Mary so they called the police. They said she suffered from SHC. Her 175 pound body was reduced to ten pounds of ashes. She had few remains including a piece of her spine and her shrunken skull. The walls of her room were covered in a stinky, oily soot. Otherwise, everything else in her room remained nearly unharmed. The cause of her death is still unknown, and there's a possibility that there will never be an answer.
When they pushed opened the door they couldn't find Mary so they called the police. They said she suffered from SHC. Her 175 pound body was reduced to ten pounds of ashes. She had few remains including a piece of her spine and her shrunken skull. The walls of her room were covered in a stinky, oily soot. Otherwise, everything else in her room remained nearly unharmed. The cause of her death is still unknown, and there's a possibility that there will never be an answer.
Dr. Irving J. Bentley
It was December 5, 1966 in Cloudersport, Pennsylvania in the house of a 92 year old man named Irving J. Bentley. He had very poor health and he needed a walker because he could barely get up. Everyday he had his gas meter reader, Mr. Gosnell, come in and check the meter in the basement.
That day when Mr. Gosnell came he went to the basement to do his usual check up when he smelt a strange odor and saw blue smoke lingering in the air. Right away he went upstairs to check on Dr. Bentley and found him cremated in his bathroom. The only part that remained of him was his lower half of his right leg along with his foot that still had a slipper on it. Dr. Bentley's body burned a hole in the bathroom floor so his ashes fell into the basement. As for the rest of the bathroom, everything was nearly unharmed. Mr. Gosnell ran for help.
Fire investigators were puzzled by how that could have happened. For a while they claimed his death was caused by spontaneous human combustion then they later learned that he smoked a pipe and also carried a box of matches in his robe pocket. Their first theory was that ashes fell from his pipe onto his clothes which ignited the flame and set him on fire. The second theory was that Dr. Bentley woke up on fire and ran to the bathroom where he passed out before extinguishing the flame and then was turned to ash. Yet again, the core cause behind his death is still unclear.
That day when Mr. Gosnell came he went to the basement to do his usual check up when he smelt a strange odor and saw blue smoke lingering in the air. Right away he went upstairs to check on Dr. Bentley and found him cremated in his bathroom. The only part that remained of him was his lower half of his right leg along with his foot that still had a slipper on it. Dr. Bentley's body burned a hole in the bathroom floor so his ashes fell into the basement. As for the rest of the bathroom, everything was nearly unharmed. Mr. Gosnell ran for help.
Fire investigators were puzzled by how that could have happened. For a while they claimed his death was caused by spontaneous human combustion then they later learned that he smoked a pipe and also carried a box of matches in his robe pocket. Their first theory was that ashes fell from his pipe onto his clothes which ignited the flame and set him on fire. The second theory was that Dr. Bentley woke up on fire and ran to the bathroom where he passed out before extinguishing the flame and then was turned to ash. Yet again, the core cause behind his death is still unclear.