Near Woodview Avenue in Spartanburg, a city in northern South Carolina, lives an elderly couple, 84-year-old Joan Littlejohn and 82-year-old Glennwood Fowler.
Last Wednesday, the couple had just met with their family, but for some reason they haven't heard from them since.
The family was very worried and asked the local police to check if something was wrong. When the police arrived, they found a hellish scene inside the house......
（Glennwood Fowler）
(年轻时的Joan Littlejohn)
At around 6 p.m. local time on the 6th, the police arrived at the Glennwood couple's residence, all the doors were locked, and they could only enter through the only unlocked window in the bedroom.
As soon as the police stepped into the house, they felt that it was very hot inside. At first glance, the couple had died at some point, and they were in an eerie state: Glennwood's body was lying face up naked on the bed, while his wife, Littlejohn, was sitting on a chair beside the bed, dressed and spread out on all fours......
The police did not find any traces of a fight at the scene, and the couple had no obvious external injuries, and the preliminary judgment was that the cause of death should be related to the abnormal high temperature in the room.
The medical staff then took the couple's temperature, which showed that their temperature had exceeded the upper limit of the measuring machine: 41 degrees Celsius.
The average body temperature of the human body should be between 36.1°C and 37.2°C, and if the core body temperature exceeds 40°C, you need to cool down immediately and seek medical attention.
The Glennwoods clearly crossed that limit, and they probably had been suffering from being "scorched" by the heat for the rest of their lives.
(Location of the incident)
Soon, firefighters also arrived at the scene to participate in the investigation, and the test found that the couple showed no signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, and the carbon dioxide level in the home did not exceed normal levels.
Only the indoor temperature exceeded the standard, which has reached 48.9°C, which is the result of ventilating the house for 20 minutes in cold weather......
So what exactly causes the heat?
While inspecting the basement "as if on fire," firefighters found the house's natural gas heater as well as a water heater.
The temperature of the heater was particularly high, reaching a staggering 537.8°C, which was clearly the "culprit" that caused the temperature to soar.
（Glennwood Fowler）
This was later confirmed by the family. According to them, the Glennwoods had mentioned that the heaters and water heaters in their home were broken, and the house was very cold.
When the family found out, they rushed to help last Wednesday, but instead of seeking help from professionals, they took matters into their own hands.
After moving a certain wire, they saw the electrical light come back on, and they thought it had been repaired, so they left hastily, but not only did it not help, but the whole house became a "scorching hell".
However, both of them had health problems a while ago, his wife Littlejohn had hip surgery, and Glennwood just fell and was unable to move. They may not be able to flee the scene even if they find out about the problem, and they will be roasted alive by the heat......
However, this is only a speculation, and the exact cause of death will not be determined until the autopsy results come out.
(Schematic diagram)
Netizens expressed sympathy for the old couple's experience:
"Oh my God...... May the departed rest in peace. It's so tragic. ”
"It's like dying in the valley of death in the hot summer. ”
"When you don't have good circulation, you may not notice that the temperature is too hot, even if you are sweating, which is why the elderly die from the heat in the summer! It's just that after the fever of the elderly, they didn't wake up like you to remove the blanket to dissipate heat. ”
Someone else shared a similar experience:
"My uncle had a similar situation when he came home from a week out: the candles melted, the plants died, and the plastic melted. Luckily, during that time, his puppy was left in the care of someone else. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed how much of an impact this could have on a family. ”
"My electric water heater caught fire once. The whole house was filled with smoke. I called my father, a firefighter on duty, and he and his colleagues came and searched every room, but found nothing, not even a thermal imaging camera. They spent a lot of time investigating the stove but didn't look at the water heater right next to it. Nearly an hour later, they were gone, and my mom went to wash the dishes, only to find the water on the faucet unusually hot.
It turned out that the electronic components of the water heater somehow spontaneously combusted, causing it to be stuck in the "on" state all the time, which is really super scary. My dad has been in the fire brigade for 40 years, and this was one of the last times he ever received a call to the police, and he said he had never seen this before. ”
There are also many people who reprimand the family of the old couple for not taking their due responsibility:
"Who would leave two elderly people with mobility problems to live alone? May the two old men rest in peace. ”
"Why would the family leave the elderly with mobility problems alone in the house? How do they eat, drink, and go to the toilet? Someone in the family should be temporarily responsible for taking care of the elderly couple. ”
But at this point, no matter what you do, you can't get back the lives of the two old men.
I hope that other people can take this as a warning, be cautious about household appliances, and do not change and repair them without authorization, they can become deadly "murder weapons" at any time......