 I'm Darren Marlar and this is a Weird Darkness Bonus Byte. From all that's interesting, .com, scientists are baffled after man is discovered naturally mummified just 16 days after he was last seen alive by Austin Harvey. Just 16 days after he was last seen alive, a man was found near a railway in Sofia, Bulgaria in a stage of complete mummification. In this incredibly rare instance, the dead man's brain and other organs had become structure-less masses, leaving researchers baffled at how this could have happened in such a short amount of time. The case was examined in a study published in the journal Sirius. According to researchers, the 34-year-old man was last seen alive on August 18, 2023. Just over two weeks later, on September 3rd, police found his body near the railway line. He was still wearing the same shirt, shorts and socks that he'd been seen in on the 18th. There were also reports that he had been chronically abusing alcohol. No traumatic injuries were found on the body. However, numerous small, round lesions were found on multiple body parts, indicating that maggots had entered the body postmortem. Upon closer analysis, the body was covered with a small amount of maggots. Closer internal examination of the body showed that the organs had decayed rapidly, becoming dried, brownish-black masses, and that the man's fat tissue was almost entirely gone. His muscles were likewise dried out and bright in color, as the liquid in his body had fully evaporated. A toxicology analysis of the man's internal organs tested negative for the presence of any drugs, and the cause of death is still unknown. While the researchers ruled out the possibility of his death being caused by traumatic injuries, they wrote that they cannot exclude the possibility of alcohol intoxication or complications related to its chronic abuse. Many factors could affect the mummification process, but the most important ones are dry air, good ventilation, solar radiation, and high temperature. Depending on the conditions, the time for complete mummification of the human body could vary wildly. Still, this process usually takes several weeks to several months. Throughout the 16-day period in which the man's body was mummified, temperatures fluctuated between 60 and 91 degrees Fahrenheit, which would not be hot enough to rapidly mummify a body, with an average humidity of 52%. However, researchers noted that the conditions in Sophia Bulgaria during this period were close to near-mummification-inducing. They also theorized that the body's proximity to the railway line could have played a part in its rapid mummification. The movement of the trains, they said, could provoke an additional windy condition, which could help in the quickening of the process. The researchers also noted that it can be difficult for forensic pathologists and medical examiners to properly determine the post-mortem interval, or the time since death, especially in cases where the body has decomposed or mummified. They suggested that examining the life cycle of the flies that took root in the body could offer some insight into the time since death. As the process of decomposition or mummification depends on the environment and many other factors, the life cycle of the insects could be quickened or ceased by them, they wrote. In the studied case, it was obvious that these specific conditions were almost entirely stopping the insect invasion and development since there were just a few larvae and pupas when there would normally be hundreds and thousands. In the end, their findings showed that the whole life cycle of the flies had not been completed, meaning the death occurred approximately less than 18 days before the body was found. This corresponds to other reports, which said the deceased was last seen alive just 16 days before his body was discovered. Researchers stated that this precocious mummification, as they're saying, a term meaning rapid mummification, is an extremely rare event, especially where the typical conditions for this process are not met. There are still many unknown variables in this case, particularly the cause of the man's death and how exactly this rapid mummification occurred. Given that the weather in Sofia was not optimal for such a process to occur, it's all the more baffling how the man's body was able to mummify in just 16 days. Find the link to the original news story in the show notes, and find more strange or disturbing news in the Weird News & Blog at WeirdDarkness.com