ACTIVITY 11-1 CALCULATING TIME OF DEATH USING RIGOR MORTIS Directions: Work in pairs to answer the following questions. Show your work on a separate sheet of paper as needed. Refer to your notes for additional information. Part A Estimate the approximate time of death for the following situations. Explain each of your answers: 1. A body was found with no evidence of rigor. The person has just died or has been dead for 36-48 hours 2. A body was found exhibiting rigor throughout the entire body. The person has been dead for about half a day. It takes 12 hours for rigor to compute throughout the body. 3. A body was found exhibiting rigor in the chest, arms, face, and neck. The body has been dead for about 6-8 hours because rigor mortis takes 12 hours to compute so it must be before 12 hours but over 6. 4. A body was discovered with rigor present in the legs, but no rigor in the upper torso. The body has been dead for 1536 hours because at the stage rigor mortis begins 0 end so some parts of the body may be stiffer than others