However, in 1968, while working on Hall's biography, "Weird and Tragic Shores", Chauncey C. Loomis became sufficiently intrigued by the possibility that Hall might have been poisoned, and applied for a permit to visit Thank God Harbor to exhume Hall's body and to perform an autopsy. Because of the permafrost, Hall's body, flag shroud, clothing, and coffin were remarkably well preserved. Tests on tissue samples of bone, fingernails, and hair showed that Hall had received large doses of arsenic in the last two weeks of his life.