Originally Posted by
Michael Gee
Is it not that a body in the water will not surface until days later ?
If the person is not wearing a flotation device when they go into the water then the body will usually submerge until the decomposition process creates gas in the cavities helping it float to the surface again.
As AC says, no-one wants to touch bodies that have been in the water for a while, the flesh strips easily from the bones if you try to pick them up and they smell to high heaven.