Spontaneous Human Combustion: A Room Full of Ashes and a Missing Ignition Source

On the morning of July 2, 1951, landlady Pansy Carpenter went to Mary Reeser’s apartment in St. Petersburg, Florida. The doorknob was unusually hot. When the door opened, most of the room was still intact, but Reeser, 67, had burned almost to ash. Investigators found part of a skull, several vertebrae, one foot still inside a slipper, and greasy black residue on the wall. The chair where she had been sitting was destroyed, while many nearby objects were only partly damaged.

The case was quickly labelled “spontaneous human combustion.” The name makes it sound as if fire began inside the body without a cigarette, match, heater, or other outside source. Because no one saw the first flame, the scene became evidence of an unknown force. Later stories even suggested that investigators avoided the cause because admitting that a body could burn by itself would frighten the public.