Mummies

One of the Sydney papers the other day carried a short one-paragraph piece about someone overseas finding three generations of a family dead. They estimated the mummified bodies had been in the house (or flat?) between 2 and 10 years. How could they have been there not long and not been discovered? Did no one come to check that they hadn't been at work or school or anywhere? The article suggested that the family were part of a religious sect and they had committed suicide. Were there no other sect members that might have checked on them - or did they all do the same thing at the same time - and could they still waiting to be discovered? And how come the family had finally been found?
And was it suicide? Were all those that perished of sufficient age to take their own life? Is that the definition of suicide? Or does it require the person deciding to, making the necessary plans and arrangements, and then carrying out the act? Otherwise, is it murder?
Some years ago there was a religious sect which I think originated in the US. They were involved in a mass suicide. I can't remember the details fully but the name Jim Jones comes to mind, and that everyone drank poisoned cordial. At the time I was in my late teens and I didn't question that it was called a mass suicide. But thinking about it now, I remember there were lots of children involved - and I wonder if they made a conscious decision to take their own lives. Or if, not knowing what would happen, they drank the poisoned cordial that was offered to them by someone they loved - "here dear, drink this. Be a good girl for Mummy" - how hard must that have been for someone to do to their own child, and how sure must they have been that they were doing the "right" thing for their child.
The world can be a strange and sad place.