Lateral Thinking Puzzles

23. A Family of 4 Were Going on a Mountaineering Holiday.

A family of 4 were going on a mountaineering holiday. The second morning they were all found dead in their cabin. The coroner declared that they had all died from drowning. The faucets in the cabin had not been left on and the boiler and water storage units were undamaged. There was no sign of any foul play. What caused them to drown?

Clues : 1. They were a mile from the nearest lake.
2. It had not rained for 5 days. Not a flash flood.
3. It was not caused by problems with a dam.

Submitted by tartle · Added 29 November 2010

Solution:

The family had climbed to a high-altitude cabin where the thin air caused high-altitude pulmonary edema. During the night their lungs filled with their own bodily fluid, and they “drowned” internally while asleep. No external water was involved, so everything in the cabin appeared dry.


Comments (14)

s.b. 3 January 2011

avalanche?? u noe..the snow melts...???

cat 5 July 2011

The family had had a wonderful first day of skiing in the mountains. They had left the heater on in the cabin because they knew they would be cold when they returned. They were also tired, and wanted something to pick them up, so they made four bowls of nice hot soup.

Unfortunately, the faulty heater had filled the cabin with colorless, odorless carbon monoxide while they were out. While they were waiting for their soup to cool a little, they became drowsy. Eventually, they made it to the table to eat their soup, but just as they began, they all were overcome and fell forward with their faces in the soup.

It was only drowning in their soup that saved them from death by carbon monoxide.

Chrisam 31 January 2013

might i hypthesis that it may have been slowing resulting ina build up of humidity along with fall in tempreture from their heater/fireplace failing over night as they slept due to power cut(on ice in fireplace from chimny) thus this humidity gathered in their lungs(mucus and water), they drowned where they slept. *shrugs*

zozee 11 September 2013

Maybe it was an aeroplane cabin, and the fuel leaked?

Senor Coolguy 14 September 2013

Given that it is only the second morning, perhaps they have not yet arrived at their destination? Perhaps the family was in a ship, sleeping in one of the ship's cabins, when the hull breaks open and water overflows the entire boat. Water fills the cabin and the family drowns in their sleep. Help arrives too late, as it was nighttime when this occurred and the ship was helpless in the middle of the ocean. The bodies were only discovered the second morning as a find by another ship or maybe a local fishing crew.

This would fit the requirements. It had not rained, maybe the ship hit a sharp rock or an iceberg, like the infamous Titanic. Given that it is the middle of the ocean, lakes are likely far away, and, finally, it is extremely unlikely a dam would be found in the middle of the ocean.

Hep 13 December 2013

they were found in the cabin of they boat they were travelling in, which sank causing them to drown. they were ~1mile from shore, which is where the nearest lake is, making that irrelevant

FrederickWallace 9 January 2014

The coroner murdered them

dave08 22 January 2014

they are a miles away from the lake but maybe they are so near to the nearest ocean or river.

pogessor 28 January 2014

They reached the top of the high mountains, and there is not enough air. (The nearest lake was maybe frozen or below the surface.)

BenLuc 21 October 2014

The water in their lungs.

Jimmyfish 30 November 2014

Pulmonary edema from altitude sickness from not acclimating to the elevation.

ashwin 14 January 2015

The geyser was on, and the lock didn't work..

oncemoreforluck 10 June 2015

maybe someone drowned them in the lake (in the middle of the night) and then drove to their cabin, depositing the bodies, and drove home, or was the person who "found" them.

PurpleGiraffe 20 March 2018

An avalanche could have caused extremely fine, powdered snow to fill the air. The family fled from the avalanche into the cabin but it was already to late; they had inhaled some snow that would melt in their lungs and cause them to drown.

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