The students found a poisonous snake once, but it was already dead.

NEWYORKER: The Sanctuary

The prosecutor said it was likely that she was already dead.

BBC: Rachel Manning 'strangled and dumped at golf course'

Such radio waves act like the microwaves in an oven, heating organic matter up to the point where, if it was not dead already, it soon will be.

ECONOMIST: Thermal treatments of cancer are remarkably effective

It was only discovered later that he was already dead before the blaze had been lit.

BBC: Yaseen Ali Ege

By the time help made it to the scene, past downed trees and power lines, a 2-year-old boy was already dead, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

CNN: Record heat, storms bring despair, 'horror'