German adventurer found mummified on yacht

HoratioTarr wrote:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3469044/Mummified-body-German-adventurer-vanished-inside-drifting-yacht-Philippines.html

Morbid but fascinating.

In 2009 in Mallorca he met another world sailer called Dieter who told Germany'v BILD newspaper: 'He was a very experienced sailor. I don't believe he would have sailed into a storm. I believe the mast broke after Manfred was already dead.'
His body was taken for an autopsy in Butuan City, the yacht was towed for a police inspection into the port of Barobo.
Police spokeswoman Goldie Lou Siega in the Philippines said; 'We have no evidence of a second person aboard and no weapon was found on the yacht.'
Dr Mark Benecke, a forensic criminologist in the city of Cologne, told BILD: 'The way he is sitting seems to indicate that death was unexpected, perhaps from a heart attack.'
The German embassy in Manila is working with local officials to trace his family in Germany. It is believed he has a daughter called Nina who works as the captain of a freight vessel.

Ben_Reilly wrote:She didn't stay in touch with her father, but she did with her mummy.

(Too soon?)

Ben_Reilly wrote:She didn't stay in touch with her father, but she did with her mummy.

(Too soon?)

Lord Foul wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:She didn't stay in touch with her father, but she did with her mummy.

(Too soon?)

OMG

and I thought us brits were quick with the sick jokes.....

Yes Ben, deffo too soon.....

korban dallas wrote:there a lot unanswered and strange
obviously wasn`t a traumatic death  given the body position so you can rule out heart attack
he had lots of electronic equipment in the video and the boat was afloat (not sure of how afloat) he had food and water would not be much of a issue on what looks like a well equipped boat

my best guess is suicide especially given the note

HoratioTarr wrote:

korban dallas wrote:there a lot unanswered and strange
obviously wasn`t a traumatic death  given the body position so you can rule out heart attack
he had lots of electronic equipment in the video and the boat was afloat (not sure of how afloat) he had food and water would not be much of a issue on what looks like a well equipped boat

my best guess is suicide especially given the note

I feel he died of a heart attack, and that he'd been crying just before he died.  The way his head is slumped, as though he's going to sleep, or weary, or feeling unwell.

HoratioTarr wrote:

korban dallas wrote:there a lot unanswered and strange
obviously wasn`t a traumatic death  given the body position so you can rule out heart attack
he had lots of electronic equipment in the video and the boat was afloat (not sure of how afloat) he had food and water would not be much of a issue on what looks like a well equipped boat

my best guess is suicide especially given the note

I feel he died of a heart attack, and that he'd been crying just before he died.  The way his head is slumped, as though he's going to sleep, or weary, or feeling unwell.

korban dallas wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

I feel he died of a heart attack, and that he'd been crying just before he died.  The way his head is slumped, as though he's going to sleep, or weary, or feeling unwell.

well as valid as any other theory at the moment
although personally, given the position of the body and limbs i think a heart attack is unlikely but not impossable it would have to have been sudden and massive but even then the natural tendency is to clutch your chest with your right arm

he does look "slumped " his legs are not under the table and he is leaning on his arm like e just shut his eyes and went to sleep and died

guess a post mortem will shed more light on this

But i reckon suicide brought on by grief and the loneliness of being at sea

Raggamuffin wrote:It's probably the angle of the photos, but it looks like his head should have slumped further down on the desk.

Very odd situation indeed.

HoratioTarr wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:It's probably the angle of the photos, but it looks like his head should have slumped further down on the desk.

Very odd situation indeed.

His body would have contracted as it dried, pulling up the bones a bit.

Raggamuffin wrote:

HoratioTarr wrote:

His body would have contracted as it dried, pulling up the bones a bit.

I guess so. Do you think his face was on the desk when he died?

HoratioTarr wrote:

korban dallas wrote:
well as valid as any other theory at the moment
although personally, given the position of the body and limbs i think a heart attack is unlikely but not impossable it would have to have been sudden and massive but even then the natural tendency is to clutch your chest with your right arm

he does look "slumped " his legs are not under the table and he is leaning on his arm like e just shut his eyes and went to sleep and died

guess a post mortem will shed more light on this

But i reckon suicide brought on by grief and the loneliness of being at sea

A heart attack is not necessarily what you see in the movies.   You can simply feel unwell, or faint, and then pass out.

Raggamuffin wrote:It's probably the angle of the photos, but it looks like his head should have slumped further down on the desk.

Very odd situation indeed.

Raggamuffin wrote:There's a lot of greyish stuff on the desk, which appears to follow the shape of his arm, but in a slightly different position, and there's also some where his face would have been if it had been resting on the desk at one point.

HoratioTarr wrote:The  German sailor whose mummified body was found on his drifting yacht off the southern Philippines died from a heart attack just one week before his body was discovered, an autopsy has revealed.
Veteran seaman Manfred Fritz Bajorat was found dead on his 40-foot long vessel by two fishermen last Friday, with his mummified body pictured hunched over a table in the yacht's main cabin.
It was not known at the time how he died, but police confirmed today that an autopsy had revealed he suffered a heart attack about seven days prior to his body being discovered.

So it was a heart attack.  I'm finding hard to believe this body was in that state after just one week though!

HoratioTarr wrote:The  German sailor whose mummified body was found on his drifting yacht off the southern Philippines died from a heart attack just one week before his body was discovered, an autopsy has revealed.
Veteran seaman Manfred Fritz Bajorat was found dead on his 40-foot long vessel by two fishermen last Friday, with his mummified body pictured hunched over a table in the yacht's main cabin.
It was not known at the time how he died, but police confirmed today that an autopsy had revealed he suffered a heart attack about seven days prior to his body being discovered.




So it was a heart attack.  I'm finding hard to believe this body was in that state after just one week though!