Body hanging from tree mistaken for Halloween decoration

CNN ^ | 10/28/05 | Mikey_1962

[Mikey_1962]

FREDERICA, Delaware (AP) -- The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

The 42-year-old woman used rope to hang herself across the street from some homes on a moderately busy road late Tuesday or early Wednesday, state police said.

[Mikey_1962]

OPPSS!

[SIDENET]

Body hanging from tree mistaken for Halloween decoration

At least nobody mistook her for a pinata.

[solitas]

Well, maybe she didn't WANT to be discovered right away…

[AbeKrieger]

And first prize for authenticity in the house decorating contest goes to...

[manwiththehands]

"Cool Halloween decoration, Bob"
"What decoration?"

[GOP_Party_Animal]

LOL Good one.

[SIDENET]

Further proof that timing and location are everything!

[Dallas59]

Al Franken-stien needs to do this on TV....who would notice?

[Kenton]

Well, she may have had problems, but she certainly had a quirky sense of humor, at any rate...

[YouPosting2Me]

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[E. Pluribus Unum]

"All for you, Damien. All for you."

[Peace Is Coming]

Those halloween decorations are getting more real looking all the time.

[Ichneumon]

There was a case several years back where a carnival funhouse dummy's arm fell off, and when they went to reattach it, they found a bone sticking out...

Turns out that the "dummy" was the dried-out (and at some point painted-over) body of a no-name wild-west outlaw who had been hanged about a century ago. The body had been put on display various places (as was a common practice back then), and at some point as it changed hands (perhaps as part of a truckload of other attractions and junk) the fact that it was a real body had gotten lost in the shuffle. The funhouse operators had gotten it from a supplier as a purported dummy, and the rest is history.

[Panzerfaust]

Yes, but now the challenge is "How are you going to top that NEXT year??"

[WorkingClassFilth]

I remember that one. In that vein, I keep hoping some carnival will be able to buy Lenin's corpse and put it on display - a fine and fitting end for a real monster.

[Italia222]

Really too bad the body hanging there wasn't Hillary, she is as much of a scary Halloween ghoul as is anyone. That would have been great.

[fml]

wow, they say suicide is a last ditch attempt for attention. Poor woman failed to be saved.

[smartin]

Already in chat.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1510379/posts

[dead]

This sort of thing happens to Andy Rooney year round.

[RightWingAtheist]

Yup. It actually happened when they were filming an episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" on location at the carnival. The body in question belonged to one Elmer McCurdy, and there was a book written about him by Mark Svelod. Here's the Snopes article on McCurdy, as well as further info here.