Darwin Strikes Again

I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often:

Warren County body identified as Altoona man
By ASSOCIATED PRESS



June 12, 2007
31 Comments



A man whose body was found on a Warren County farm has been identified, but authorities were not releasing any other information.

The body of Bradley Neil Parkins, 28, of Altoona, was found on the farm Sunday afternoon. An autopsy showed he died of exposure to anhydrous ammonia and that the death was accidental.

An anhydrous ammonia facility is located on the farm, officials said.

Officials used fingerprints to identify Parkins.

Jessica Lown, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, said investigators were continuing to work to determine why Parkins was at the farm.

"We can't tell you why he was there or what the connection might be if there was one at all," Lown said.

If you live in the Midwest, you know damn well why he was there. You can't make meth without anhydrous. I believe anhydrous tanks are legally required to be locked, thanks to market demand for the stuff. Probably to protect the jackasses who want to steal the stuff too. I occasionally x-rayed a farmer who'd been caught in an unplanned release of anhydrous from a tank he was towing in his field. It did a job on his lungs and vocal cords, in that he had the lung capacity and voice of a 90 year old woman. People who want to voluntarily inhale this stuff mixed with a crap load of other chemicals never intended for human intake probably weren't going to be more than short timers in the shallow end of the gene pool; the rare instances where they remove themselves without taking someone with them should be appreciated.

A short image synopsis of the physical effects.