Bat men causing dwarves they kill to become missing for a week instead of leaving a body

[Dr. Doctor PHD. MD. QT.]

Some bat men invaded my caverns, I sent out my military to deal with them, and my military won, but two guys -in the middle of fighting- suddenly came down with time distortion or something because instead of dying, it said they'd been missing for a week... But they were just there a moment ago. I got some slabs engraved, but has anyone else had this issue?

[Flare |UKCS|]

Is it possible your dwarfs got knocked into a deep section of the caverns in the fight and are MIA, not dead but deep in the caverns and assumed gone.
Must admit I dont know the missing aspect that well, usually the bits and pieces tells the tale of the dead dwarf...maybe some teeth go missing but the rest tell the tale :P

[Dr. Doctor PHD. MD. QT.]

No, they were on flat ground, with no holes any where in the area. The combat logs said they were right in that spot, then suddenly they were reported missing for a week. No teeth, no anything, it's like the bat men ate them whole.

[Bean]

I've had dwarves walk right by a corpse and not report them dead. I think it might be tied to a dwarf's observation skill

[Dr. Doctor PHD. MD. QT.]

normally, missing for a week shows up automatically when a dead dwarf has not been found for a week. Normally if they fall down a shaft and die, or if they are off alone and get mauled by an animal. This instance, though, it was immediate the second they died, with guys all around them. I'm thinking maybe their deaths were set to way earlier or something. I'll check it in the legends

[Erei]

A dwarf need to see the body to consider them dead.
Missing for a week mean they are dead for a week but nobody saw the body. Yes, dwarves imediately know when someone die but they say "missing" until they see a body. I walled a kitty in the cave for months, and it was fine. But the moment a forgotten beast spawned and kill the kitty, one week later I had "missing for a week". Even though he was missing for literally months prior :D

[Bralbaard]

The reason is that DF has a justice system, and people might get murdered by a vampire hiding amongst your population. deaths are only reported when found, and this allows criminals to get away with murder sometimes if no witness reports are filed. It seems to be a bit at odds with how the game reports other events, but it has its reasons.

[Dr. Doctor PHD. MD. QT.]

No, no. Like. The combat logs said these guys had JUST punched/stabbed one of the bat men, the bat men retaliated and dealt a killing blow, and then they were missing for a week in a second. I also can't seem to access legends, so I can't check their names. The bat men also completely deleted the bodies when they killed them, including armor

[jeetrix]

out of sight. maybe he flung them somewhere high up or far away or like exploded there bodies or ate them or something that makes them out of sight but they're dead

[GrimdarkOG]

Originally posted by General Tor:

No, no. Like. The combat logs said these guys had JUST punched/stabbed one of the bat men, the bat men retaliated and dealt a killing blow, and then they were missing for a week in a second. I also can't seem to access legends, so I can't check their names. The bat men also completely deleted the bodies when they killed them, including armor

The bodies disappear till your dwarves find them*. It doesnt matter if you saw the alert because none of your dwarves have physically seen it yet.

*sometimes. I've watched it happen both ways

[Dr. Doctor PHD. MD. QT.]

They were surrounded by allies, it was like four squads moving in at the same time, I had them all swarmed up by mustering first. There were like four dudes in the surrounding tiles, but them being flung away wouldn't put the "missing for a week" prompt the moment they died. and it was the MOMENT they died, not a week later.

[Bralbaard]

Are you sure that dwarf didn't die a week earlier? I' ve never heard of this system being broken. The combat log might have been there for a while already.

[GrimdarkOG]

your military dwarves dont actually seem to notice the dead comrades right when they die but yeah it probably shouldnt say a week you are right

[Dr. Doctor PHD. MD. QT.]

I clicked the combat lock's snap to button, and it was that conflict's exact location. But I'd never sent them over there at all before that since the caves were still quite new for me to be in. I unno why it happened, and I asked 'cause I was wondering if anyone else had this issue