Essay Standards for Disaster Victim Identification

Forensic scientists can identify the body through dental records, DNA samples or if the fingers are intact, fingerprints.

Forensic science has come a long way from where it was less than 100 years ago. It has only been relatively recently that the advancement of technology we use, has occurred. The Body Farm, an institute in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a place where dead corpses are left to rot and then studied on how the body decays in different circumstances. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Body Farm tells about the farm from Dr. Bill Bass’ point of view, from the establishment of the farm, to the impact in the world of forensic science the farm has caused. David Pitt and Alynda Wheat offers their insight into the book in their reviews. The Body Farm has been a monumental stepping stone to the advancement of modern day forensic sciences. Dr. Bill Bass, is making

By now the crime scene has been labeled a homicide and detectives have been dispatched to the scene. When the detectives arrive the lead officer will then provide a detailed crime scene briefing to the detective in charge of the scene. This briefing will be the only opportunity for the detective to receive the initial aspects of the crime scene prior to subsequent investigation. Since the crime scene and any/all evidence collected are the key factors in making a case, the crime scene must be documented as soon as possible including, appearance and condition of the scene upon arrival, lights on/off, shades up/down, doors, windows open/closed, any unusual smells, ice, liquids, weather conditions, temperature, and any personal items that may have been left behind. Once the lead detective has been briefed and evaluates the scene him/herself, he/she will then need to determine if consent to search and/or obtaining a search warrant is needed. The scene assessment allows the lead detective

This caught my attention right away and hooked me in. Along with being a topic I was quite interested in (reference to last nonfiction book report), the first two sentences got me wondering. What could be told from a murdered person’s body? I already had a lot of background information from research and watching shows on mystery and homicide but this question led to a million answers. Some answers were cause of death, manner of death. time of death, weapon used, etc, all of which were related because this was sparked from the thought of a dead person and my ideas. From this, I read on to determine what could be told from an expert’s point of view.

After that they “analyze bones to determine the victim's biological profile” as it is said in “What is Forensic Anthropology” by R.U. Steinberg.

What three aspects does a forensic autopsy seek information about? Describe each of these aspects.

Forensic anthropologist examine skeletal remains for elements of a skeleton that can give clues to the person it belongs to. The Kennewick man’s skeleton was found in surprisingly good condition meaning the damage to the skeleton was done in his life, not due to deterioration. The skeleton showed a projectile point lodged in his hip, five broken ribs that did not properly heal, two small dents in his skull, and a bum shoulder. These wounds show an insight to the lifestyle

After finding some skeletal remains, the police have provided a list of three missing persons, Kim Lee, Theresa Woods and Jonathan Parker. While spending multiple days in the lab, plenty of information was collected to help with the identification of the bones, such as the sex of the victim, the age of the victim and the approximate height and race of the victim. This data was compiled to draw a conclusion and safely identify the remains.

Your Work: Forensic anthropologists work with professional organizations to identify disaster victims. They analyze skeletal and badly decomposed human remains. They will try to assess the age, sex, ancestry, stature, and unique features of the skeleton. They will frequently work with forensic pathologists, odontologists, and homicide investigators. Their goal is to be able to match the skeleton with a missing person or victim.

Phase III: Gather information for the victims who contributed in the study along with any criticism to decide a cause or constancy.

As a forensic anthropologist, Brennan main focus is to assist law enforcement agencies with her knowledge to inspect skeletons. Her main motive in this case was to determine individual 's age, sex, time of death, and physical condition from their skeleton remains. It is extremely crucial that Brennan diagnoses the skeleton remains accurately, as the legal investigation greatly depends on it. Brennan refers to multiple biological anthropology methods while she was assessing

Dr. Brennen, a forensic anthropologist, finds remains all throughout the book in different scenarios. She finds human bones among lots of bear bones in a bag in the woods and she examines the remains of a baby found in a wood stove, in a plane crash, privy, and a submerged car. She briefly goes into discussion of what she does as a forensic anthropologist. She uses her knowledge of bones to identify the cause and manner of death in victims that are too compromised for autopsy; meaning there is little to no tissue left for a proper autopsy. (Reichs 2004:16). She also uses various methods throughout the book to identify the sex, age, stature, and ancestry, as well as securing an identification of the victim.

After doing their job in he crime scene, the evidence they took will be taken to the forensic scientist. Crime scene investigators will look at the photographs and connect their theories based on the crime that occurred. The forensic scientists will also examine the victim’s clothes, while the medical examiner will analyze the victim’s body for more clues and evidence that they may find and they will all be doing this in the crime lab. The things they may find could be hair, fiber, semen, blood, another person’s DNA, bruises and many more. After the forensic scientists

But how do you tell what the bodies are getting to? I’ll tell you! There are forensic scientists that study bodies and then try to figure out how, when, where, and why whoever had this body, died! And how do these scientists do it, you ask? I don’t know! But what I do know, is that the scientists look at the height and weight of the skeletons, and then determine what age they were, so that they can then identify who the person was, and what they looked like. By doing this these special scientists

Since most investigations start with very limited information, care and common sense are necessary to minimize the chances of destroying evidence. A plan of operation is developed and initiated from an initial walk through of the scene. The plan is to decide what evidence may be present, what evidence may be fragile and need to be collected as soon as possible. What resources, equipment, and assistance are necessary for the processing? Consideration of hazards or safety conditions may need to be addressed.