Decomposition occurs over four main stages, with the first starting as soon as four minutes after death (via Aftermath). Autolysis is caused by the excess carbon dioxide in the body, where the acidic environment brings rigor mortis and small blisters across the body as ruptured cells leak enzymes throughout. These enzymes release gases which cause the second stage, bloat, around three days after death, and bacteria and insects begin to eat the body. This is the infamous putrefaction stage that causes extremely foul odors, and can alert neighbors or passers-by that someone has died should the body have gone unnoticed before.
Things don't get much more pleasant after that. Active decay sees the body become liquified as the blood and organs decompose, beginning eight days after a stopped heart and continuing until after a month. The fourth stage, skeletonization, is the hardest to predict. According to Crime Clean-up, it can go anywhere from a month to several years for a buried body to be reduced to bones. The bones themselves will also decompose, though, in certain conditions, skeletons can last for centuries. Death is a natural process that begins with a stopped heart and continues for weeks, months, and even years afterward; though it's nothing to be ashamed of, it's certainly not the most pleasant process in terms of sight and smell.
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