When Science Fails

Cryonic Couple Cremated SAUMUR, France:
The most prominent frozen couple in France have thawed. Dr. Raymond Martinot and his wife, Monique Leroy, had been "slumbering" in a large refrigeration unit in the basement of their Loire chateau while their son fought in the French courts to keep their bodies there. But Remy Martinot said he discovered recently that a technical problem had caused the temperature in the refrigerator to rise to an unacceptable level, probably for several days, The Guardian reported. The younger Martinot had his parents cremated. Dr. Martinot planned the effort to gain immortality through cryogenics, first preserving his wife's body when she died of cancer in 1984. When he died of a stroke more than 20 years later, his son did the same for him. French authorities had said that cryogenic preservation is illegal under laws that require all bodies to be cremated, buried or donated to science.