Leanne Tiernan, a 16-year-old girl had been reported missing on November 26, 2000 in Leeds, West Yorkshire while she was walking back home after a day of Christmas shopping with her friend. Tiernan had taken a short cut home after a trip into the city and after departing ways with her friend, she was never heard from again. Police were desperate to locate the whereabouts of Tiernan as more than 1000 properties were searched, a 3 mile stretch of a canal was drained and garbage collections were stopped. Things were looking grim for the investigators as their only leads came from witnesses that said they saw a man walking his dog several times near the area where Tiernan had disappeared from. It wasn’t until nine months later, on August …show more content…
They first had to identify whether the body was indeed Tiernan’s or not and two days after the body was found, fingerprinting methods indeed determined that the body was Leanne Tiernan. Despite her body being found 9 months later, her body was still intact enough to gather fingerprints. Fingerprinting proves to be a critical method in forensic cases as no two individuals have been recorded having the same fingerprint, making it an ideal way to identify suspects or victims. Fingerprints are also individual characteristics making it nearly 100% chance that it could be traced back to a source. Getting something Tiernan may have touched can then be compared to a fingerprint(s) taken from her body. Fingerprints have ridge characteristics known as minutiae and can also be classified on their general pattern known as loops, arches, and whorls. Fingerprints also do not change unless damage is done to the dermal papillae, which makes fingerprints a powerful use of evidence. Extracting a fingerprint from Tiernan would require pressing a finger into an ink pad and then transferring the impression onto a card that would be examined by a professional. However, getting a sample to compare her fingerprint would require investigators to find a latent fingerprint (prints that are left on a surface which are invisible to the naked eye) of Tiernan. When we touch something, we leave impressions on surfaces due to the sweat and oil and as long as the
Unfortunately, this did not deliver any further clues (Crime Investigation, 2015). There were numerous reports of potential sightings of Tiernan, which police investigated, but to no avail (Crime Investigation, 2015). Complicating the police search was the fact that the area in which Leanne Tiernan had disappeared consisted of vastly varying terrain (Crime Investigation, 2015). Police conducted an extensive house to house investigation and the search eventually grew enormous, involving uniformed officers, operational support, the dog section, the mounted section, underwater search and air support (Crime Investigation, 2015). Disappointedly, no indication of Leanne Tiernan was found (Crime Investigation, 2015). Nine months after she disappeared, on Monday, 20th of August 2001, a man out walking his dog in Lindley Woods, stumbled across Leanne Tiernan’s body, near Otley on the border of North and West Yorkshire, 16 miles from her house and several miles from the scene of the crime (Elvidge, 2016). She was wrapped in a floral duvet cover and buried in a shallow
When it comes to fingerprints, no two individuals are the same. This is just one of the many reasons to as why fingerprints are so important when it comes to evidence. In addition, fingerprints are used to assist in capturing the individual, who was at the crime scene when the crime was perpetrated. Fingerprints are found on surfaces due to the friction ridges that are on each one of our hands (Nolo, 2015). Sweat, body oils, and dirt are just a few of the things that
In the case of 23-year-old next-door neighbor, Guy Paul Morin who was wrongfully convicted for the murder of Christine Jessop in 1984, which was a nine-year-old girl who lived in Queensville, Ontario. On October 3, 1984 Christine Mother, Janet, arrived home at 4:10pm and noticed her daughter’s backpack in the kitchen but no sign of her Christine. Janet began to panic and looked around the neighborhood looking for her daughter and found nothing. Later that night she called the York Regional Police.
For over a century fingerprints have been one of the most used tools of forensic science. Fingerprints have been used to identify criminals of small crimes
One of the greatest tragedies in Australia happened over 50 years ago, it was the disappearance of the Beaumont children. Nine year old Jane Nartare Beaumont, seven year old Arnna Kathleen Beaumont and four year old Grant Ellis Beaumont took a trip to Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, in South Australia, on January 26, 1966 unsupervised, for a day of fun. Little did they, and others know that the day would end in a tragedy. Taking a bus to their destination at 10am is when everything began. The children’s mother, Nancy, was worried when her children did not arrive home at the time she hoped. She waited for every bus and when her husband Jim came home they searched the beach themselves. After a long search they went to the authorities and they went
Fingerprints fall into the category of individualisation, they are unique and specific to a person and is the most common form of identification because even twins do not have same finger prints (Jones & Pritchard, 2012). This evidential material would have been formed when Mr Port dragged his victims to the church or when he had touched them during sexual contact. Fingerprints are always visualised using a range of special techniques such as using light source, various chemicals, brushing with powders and staining with dyes (White, 2010), all these techniques need to be able to react with fingerprints so that print is seen with a naked eye. This evidence can easily identify the individual that has committed the
One evening in November of 2000, 16 year old, Leanne Tiernan of Bramley, Leeds, was christmas shopping with a friend. After saying their goodbyes, Leanne Tiernan went walking through an isolated path known as “Houghley Gill,” where she then disappeared. John Taylor, the suspect was roaming the area at the time waiting for a vulnerable victim to cross his path. Unfortunately, it lead to being Leanne Tiernan the victim that evening. Tiernan’s mother, Sharon Hawkhead, reported her daughter missing immediately.
Music streaming is the primary way that millions listen to their favorite musical artist today. Streaming music is a multi million dollar business for the leading companies. Music fans realize that Tidal is a company that is owned by Jay-Z. This is a music subscription service that is getting a lot of attention too. Tidal seemed lost at sea, until Desiree Perez turned the tide for the music service. Jay-Z with the help of Desiree Perez has turned the streaming service into a top contender in the industry.
Exercise 2 Latent Print Development Introduction The purpose of this lab was to introduce the method of latent print development using fingerprint dusting powders and practice those techniques. When latent fingerprints are found at a crime scene, they are developed and documented by a crime scene technician and analyzed by a trained latent fingerprint examiner. Fingerprints can be classified into three general patterns: loops, whorls, and arches. Fingerprints are patterns of friction skin ridges which consist of veins, capillaries, and sweat glands.
That is a good question, one worth answering. Forensics is a scientific tool that has come to its own starting about the 80’s. Fingerprinting was one of the first techniques used to help in identifying the criminals that committed the heinous acts. Fingerprinting uses a brush and powder to enhance the ridge details on the fingertips adhering to the oils left behind. Another awesome way they have been able to pull prints off soft surfaces like bed sheets is by using superglue and heat. Fascinating isn’t it? Since then Forensics has become even more evolved. Fingerprints now go into a database known as AFIS or Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which has the prints of everyone
Though Hershel, Faulds, Galton and others set the stage in methods to indicate fingerprints should have been used for identification there was still controversy around the science. With the advances of technology, we now have a better understanding of why fingerprints have only been identified to a single individual. They are unique and permanent. Embryology finds six weeks in utero formations of early notching for what will become fingers starts. By week seven, webbing of the finger is almost gone and volar pads start to form. During week ten through twelve, initial formation of epidermal ridges begin. Primary ridges begin at the apex of the volar pads, tip of the finger and just above the first joint. Secondary ridges start to form by week sixteen and stop the formation of primary ridges. By twenty-four weeks ridge formation has completely finished. For over one hundred years friction ridge impressions have been only known to relate back to only one source thus resulting its broad usage in law enforcement, banking, government buildings for identification purposes and etc.
To this day, LeAnn Rimes continues to be well-known for her country/pop style music; sprouting a passion for music from as young as 5, with her career commencing at the early age of 11. LeAnn’s first album, “All That”, was recorded in 1994 and was instantly successful, rapidly collecting countless fans and turning her into a child star (Biography.com Editors, n.d.).
For the past several decades, ninhydrin has been used in the development of fingerprints from surfaces. The fingerprints revealed by ninhydrin have been used to compare against other known fingerprints, whether from the person of interest or a database, which can lead to a match on a victim or a suspect on a case. But what about the fingerprints that do not have a match in a database? Can that print be of any use to forensic scientists? In the journal article, “New Horizons for Ninhydrin: Colorimetric Determination of Gender from Fingerprints” the researchers attempt to determine if a fingerprint can yield more than just a picture that can be used for comparison.
“Fingerprint recognition is one of the divorce inference using the impressions made by the minute ridge formations or patterns found on the fingertips. No two people have exactly the same arrangement of the ridge patterns, and the remaining patterns of any one individual unchanged. Fingerprints infallible provide a means of personal identification. Other personal characteristics may change, but not fingerprints”. (1)
Every time somebody touches something, they leave behind a unique signature that forever links them to that object. This link is their fingerprints, which are unique to every person, for no two people have the same set, not even family members or identical twins. Palms and toes also leave prints behind, but these are far less commonly found during crime scene investigations. Therefore, fingerprints provide an identification process that is applicable to background checks, biometric security, mass disaster identification, and most importantly, crime scene investigations. Fingerprints are so differentiated because they are made up of distinct patterns of ridges and furrows on the fingers. The ridges are the “raised” portions of the prints, and the furrows are the “recessed” portions. This perceived uniqueness has led some people to falsely accept fingerprint analysis as absolute scientific fact. Although overall fingerprints are reliable, there are definitely situations where their accuracy can come into question.