Fantastically Factual Forensics

Watson and Sherls/ University Students/ Fastidously maintaining a fervent love of forensic science, and fostering a desire to get people learning.

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

If (LAPD, so large PD) cops find a REALLY recent corpse (dead less than an hour, they were responding to a 911 call about assault, got there too late), and one of the Detectives is like "I think I know who this is but I NEED to see the left elbow" which is inside a jacket that would need to be shifted/removed to see it...how quickly could/would the body/clothing be disturbed/moved to examine the elbow, and by whom? (The head is missing, it's otherwise flat on the back, outdoors in a public area)

Hey @ vorpalgirl sorry we suck at posting on any kind of regular schedule.

Generally speaking, no one gets to touch the scene until the medical examiner has finished with it (and they get to go first. Before the cops, before the crime scene analysts). This also means no one gets to touch the body until the medical examiner arrives and clears the body. Photographs will be taken of the body within the scene, after which it is usually removed by the medical examiner/coroner and taken to the facility where the autopsy is performed.

Unfortunately for you, this means your detective is sh*t out of luck unless they don’t want to keep their job. Realistically, the detective would alert the medical examiner to this fact, and it would be checked during the autopsy as part of the identification process. I would hazard a guess of the autopsy taking place anywhere in the next 4 to 6 hours for a case of such importance (police departments usually don’t mess around with public body dumps).

[vorpalgirl]

@fantasticallyfactualforensics Haha well XD I was originally thinking she was asking the ME who’s literally handling the body, to check after photos had been done…like when they shift the body to check for insect activity underneath or whatever (because I am told that is a step they do)? Anyway, I decided the dead person’s cell phone was dropped nearby so it’s an easier reveal (call the phone OH SHIT IS THAT THEIR RINGTONE?) so I worked around it anyway XD Question though while I’m here: I assume the phone would be bagged (and photographed before moving, etc, position marked, etc) as evidence in that case. But like…the most key evidence in it other than its presence, would be either who the vic last called or some prior text messages or both. I assume they go through it EVENTUALLY but I’m wondering whether one of the Detectives or forensics folks on scene could poke through that (it’s a touch screen phone btw), or if they have to wait for the lab to process it e.g. for fingerprints or whatever, first? 

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

A person dedicated to electronicic/computer forensic will definitely look at it later. Alternatively the police can also go to the vic’s service provider and look through their call/text history.

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

My NaNo's serial killer's 1st killing was strangling someone he came up behind with a rope (maybe nylon?) til they died, but the second one's M.O. was a little different (still strangled, but briefly kidnapped/tortured; he adds nastier treatment to each new victim) - there's no connection between the victims other than living within 2 miles of each other in a major city so I need forensic evidence the killer could leave that would connect the crimes especially to the first one; any suggestions?

Long time no see @ vorpalgirl! Thank you for reminding us of our blog’s existence! Many police departments are tentative to link crimes together without the proper evidence to support the connection. There are also issues of media frenzies around serial killers (which can sometimes be more harmful than helpful in police investigations).

Some questions you may want to ask yourself are what other types of evidence may your criminal inadvertently be leaving behind. Does your killer handle the rope with ungloved hands at any point? Do they buy common rope (like dollar store rope) or are they using rope left over from their rock climbing excursions? Does the victim struggle? How much does the victim struggle? Where are the killer and victim located at the time of the crime? Where is the body disposed of?

I’ll list some possible evidence that could be left behind in each of my hypotheticals questions.

Does your killer handle the rope with ungloved hands at any point?

If your killer purchases the rope at a store, they would reasonably not be wearing gloves while doing so. This can leave touch transfer evidence in the rope fibers (sloughed off epithelial cells most likely). While minimal, it can give police a potential profile which is a good starting point in an investigation.

Do they buy common rope (like dollar store rope) or are they using rope left over from their rock climbing excursions?

This may sound really weird but specialty, high end ropes exist. So specialty ropes, or antique ropes, can help police make connections between crimes. For example, if your killer uses the same type of rope in both crimes, police may make note of this. It is not as easy to make these connections if the killer uses really common ropes, like those that could be purchased in any large camping and sporting goods store. Again, this would be circumstantial as a single piece of evidence, but it can add to corroborative evidence, and help lead to more significant findings.

Does the victim struggle? How much does the victim struggle?

During a struggle, the victim can create two big instances of evidence. They can create wounds on the attacker (scratches, bruising) in a struggle, especially if they are fighting desperately to get the rope off/ loosened. The victim, in creating these wounds, will mostly end up with the murderers’ DNA underneath their fingernails. Fingernail scrapings are a common part of evidence collection. If both victims struggle and are able to scratch at their attacker, reasonably the police will end up with the DNA profile of the attacker. Furthermore, the wounds the attacker sustains may be difficult to explain away to friends and family (should they exist). It’s up to you as a writer to play around with the impact of the wounds on the murderer.

Where are the killer and victim located at the time of the crime?

Is this strangulation happening in an alley behind a bar, or in public anywhere? So many places have security cameras, that store security cameras may record the murderer following the victim up the street or pulling them into an alleyway. If the crime in happening within their home, does the victim have a security system at all? Video evidence can be useful, even if just to establish a timeline of events.

Lastly, where is the body disposed of?

Depending on where the body is being disposed of, you may end up with more video evidence. The exception being if the body is disposed of in a remote area. Then there may not be video evidence. Unless you want there to be a convenient trail camera around.

There are also many instances where the murderer’s hair, skin and other bodily fluids may end up on the victim, all of which can be (or not be) found by police. You can really write anything in, depending on how easily you want the police investigation to go. There is also research into forensic knot tying, which can also be somewhat informative about the murderer (but you probably don’t want me to wax poetic about it. It is only somewhat admissible in court as far as we know).

Hope it helps! Enjoy your NaNoRiMo!

[vorpalgirl]

Ah!! Yes <3 This helps tons and I also like what one of your followers suggested: “maybe the killer takes the rope with them and uses the same one for each victim. this would mean they could find the first victim’s dna on the second victim” This is a thought that hadn’t occurred to me - how plausible do you think it is?

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Its plausible since DNA gets everywhere. Buuut in terms of probability, they will also have to actually find the first set of DNA and that might be difficult if they are not actually looking for it.

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Writing my POV character witnessing a...weird beheading... and wondered if you could answer this: if a head were removed while the person were upright (NOT the classic "guillotine" position - standing), what are we looking at for arterial spray? like, I ASSUME it's spurting up like a fountain and going unpredictably everywhere (ick!), but how long would it last? I know it's gonna be measured in "seconds", but about how many do you think? I don't want it to be an unrealistic length of spurt.

Hello again @ vorpalgirl! Unfortunately, a decapitation is not as exciting as television makes it appear. Arterial spray, now labelled by the Scientific Working Group on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (SWGSTAIN) as a projected pattern, and tends to end up being linear, and not very fountain-y. This year Watson and I had the wonderful opportunity to take a basic bloodstain pattern analysis course, so here are a few pictures of projected patterns we made in lab:

The human body only contains about 5-6 litres of blood. And while two major blood vessels would be severed in a decapitation, there is only so much blood the heart can pump out before it essentially runs out.

The first “spurt”, if you will, will contain the largest amount of blood, and will cover everything. The floor, the ceiling, the person doing the decapitation, everything, especially if the person is standing (and the decapitation happens in one clean cut, which is unlikely). You will also end up with cast-off patterns, as it is very difficult to sever a human head, and will more than likely take more than one pass. (Below is what a cast-off pattern will look like with fingers flicking blood)

All subsequent spurts will contain less and less blood until the heart is no longer able to pump. This would last a few seconds at most.

As a bonus fact, I learned that after decapitation, the head may twitch and blink for up to 15 seconds.

Anyways, hope that helps you! Happy writing!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

My NaNo's serial killer's 1st killing was strangling someone he came up behind with a rope (maybe nylon?) til they died, but the second one's M.O. was a little different (still strangled, but briefly kidnapped/tortured; he adds nastier treatment to each new victim) - there's no connection between the victims other than living within 2 miles of each other in a major city so I need forensic evidence the killer could leave that would connect the crimes especially to the first one; any suggestions?

Long time no see @ vorpalgirl! Thank you for reminding us of our blog’s existence! Many police departments are tentative to link crimes together without the proper evidence to support the connection. There are also issues of media frenzies around serial killers (which can sometimes be more harmful than helpful in police investigations).

Some questions you may want to ask yourself are what other types of evidence may your criminal inadvertently be leaving behind. Does your killer handle the rope with ungloved hands at any point? Do they buy common rope (like dollar store rope) or are they using rope left over from their rock climbing excursions? Does the victim struggle? How much does the victim struggle? Where are the killer and victim located at the time of the crime? Where is the body disposed of?

I’ll list some possible evidence that could be left behind in each of my hypotheticals questions.

Does your killer handle the rope with ungloved hands at any point?

If your killer purchases the rope at a store, they would reasonably not be wearing gloves while doing so. This can leave touch transfer evidence in the rope fibers (sloughed off epithelial cells most likely). While minimal, it can give police a potential profile which is a good starting point in an investigation.

Do they buy common rope (like dollar store rope) or are they using rope left over from their rock climbing excursions?

This may sound really weird but specialty, high end ropes exist. So specialty ropes, or antique ropes, can help police make connections between crimes. For example, if your killer uses the same type of rope in both crimes, police may make note of this. It is not as easy to make these connections if the killer uses really common ropes, like those that could be purchased in any large camping and sporting goods store. Again, this would be circumstantial as a single piece of evidence, but it can add to corroborative evidence, and help lead to more significant findings.

Does the victim struggle? How much does the victim struggle?

During a struggle, the victim can create two big instances of evidence. They can create wounds on the attacker (scratches, bruising) in a struggle, especially if they are fighting desperately to get the rope off/ loosened. The victim, in creating these wounds, will mostly end up with the murderers’ DNA underneath their fingernails. Fingernail scrapings are a common part of evidence collection. If both victims struggle and are able to scratch at their attacker, reasonably the police will end up with the DNA profile of the attacker. Furthermore, the wounds the attacker sustains may be difficult to explain away to friends and family (should they exist). It’s up to you as a writer to play around with the impact of the wounds on the murderer.

Where are the killer and victim located at the time of the crime?

Is this strangulation happening in an alley behind a bar, or in public anywhere? So many places have security cameras, that store security cameras may record the murderer following the victim up the street or pulling them into an alleyway. If the crime in happening within their home, does the victim have a security system at all? Video evidence can be useful, even if just to establish a timeline of events.

Lastly, where is the body disposed of?

Depending on where the body is being disposed of, you may end up with more video evidence. The exception being if the body is disposed of in a remote area. Then there may not be video evidence. Unless you want there to be a convenient trail camera around.

There are also many instances where the murderer's hair, skin and other bodily fluids may end up on the victim, all of which can be (or not be) found by police. You can really write anything in, depending on how easily you want the police investigation to go. There is also research into forensic knot tying, which can also be somewhat informative about the murderer (but you probably don’t want me to wax poetic about it. It is only somewhat admissible in court as far as we know).

Hope it helps! Enjoy your NaNoRiMo!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hello! I've tried to research this on my own, but I haven't been very successful. So: If an exsanguinated corpse is left for six months in a cool (temps ranging from 60 down to 30F as time goes by), dark, unexposed basement, with no insect activity, what level of decomp might I be looking at? I've been picturing some serious desiccation, a bit of that "classic mummy" look, but I don't really know! Also: How much of an impact does a lack of blood in the decomp process affect the smell? Thanks!

Hiya @ electric-sympathy 😊 Exsanguination removes the majority of blood within the body system. Because of this, and without insect activity (which is very difficult to prevent. Insects are crafty) the corpse would progress to the dry decay stage (or final stage) of decay in a shorter amount of time than a person that was not exsanguinated.  Either way, at the six month mark, the corpse would have reached dry decay (so most soft tissue either rotted away or desiccated. Without insect or mammalian scavenging activity, the corpse may have more of these tissues than an exposed corpse would).

The lack of blood may slightly affect the smell, but the corpse would still be awful to smell. Soft tissues and body fat will smell just as bad as usual during the decomposition process. I can’t find any concrete literature that ranks how bad each smells but a rotting human corpse still smells like a rotting human corpse, regardless of the lack of blood.

One final note- decomposition begins to taper off and slow at approximately 5 degrees Celsius (40 Fahrenheit). Imagine what a refrigerator does, and apply that to a corpse in a cold basement. The bacteria that are responsible for decomposition have an optimal living temperature much like every other organism. At 40F, many of these bacteria are in their critical temperature zone, which can slow down their metabolic activity which may lead to freezing and death should the temperature continue to drop or remain consistently in the critical zone.

Hope this helps! Happy writing!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi, I would like to know: a person who does not know their identity has been found. How would the authorities go about trying to identify them?

Hi again@ emmephoenix12! Much like in the last question you asked,police will use similar means to attempt to identify a person with amnesia.Dental records, DNA and sometimes fingerprints can be used.

The issue with identifying people that have norecollection of who they are comes with reference samples. If no one reports aperson as missing, they will not be in the missing persons index. DNA, dentalrecords and fingerprints are only useful if police have an idea of who theperson may be. Otherwise the authorities would have millions of records to siftthrough, which is not high on the priority list. Alternatively, social mediaand television can be harnessed to help identify people that do not know whothey are. Some opt to circulate an image of themselves imploring their familyto come claim them. Sometimes these methods will work, but unfortunately, theyare not fool-proof. Sometimes the family does not see the campaign, and I wouldassume sometimes the family doesn’t want the person back.

For instance this newspaper article details several real-life instances of people that haveforgotten who they are, and how they did and did not come to learn who theywere. It also talks about Bourne Identity, so take the article well-salted.

Hopefully this gives you some idea of how someonemay relearn their identity. Happy writing!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi, I have a case of several bodies which were incomplete (organs missing, broken bones) when they were found. Is there a possibility that dental records or DNA can be used to identify the remains?

Heya @emmephoenix12! Forensic science has come a long way, so even if a body is missing organs and has broken bones, we still have many options with which an identification can be made.

Dental records are often used as teeth are not only individual, but in this day and age most people have had dental work done. Filled cavities (called carries in most orthodontic literature), root canals, crowns, pretty much anything you have done to your teeth is recorded. Even better, some parts like braces or semi-permanent retainers have serial numbers which can be linked back to a person. Police can access your dental records with the proper warrants, and use these to identify you if necessary.

Speaking of serial numbers, any parts inserted during surgery (correcting rods, plates, hip replacements, pacemakers) almost always have a serial number or part number that can be linked to a person in a post-mortem exam, which can lead to an identification.

DNA can also be used, but only if a reference sample exists. So, for example if a headless person is suspected to be a missing person, they may obtain a reference sample from the missing persons next of kin. In long cold cases, this may be a sample from a close family member (mother/ brother) but in more recently active cases hairbrushes and even toothbrushes can be used to obtain the reference sample.

Hopefully this helps! Happy writing 😊

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hello! My name is Tania. I am super interested in someday having a job that has to do w/ working at a crime scene. The thing is that there’s so many forensic jobs! It’s a bit overwhelming, but I have looked into some jobs and I am interested in becoming a crime scene investigator or a forensic photographer. I want to find the right job, one that has to do with being at the actual crime scene and gathering evidence or working with the evidence at the crime scene. I just want some sort of guidance

Hey Tania, we’re sad to say that we are just students like you. Forensic science is the application of science to the law, so our best advice is to find the science you like and keep applying for jobs until you get into a crime laboratory. Maybe join a police force and work your way up? We barely know what we are doing career-wise as it is. Where we live, to work at crime scenes you must be a police officer, and photography is usually done by on-duty officers that have received in-house training, but this may be different where you live. So do your research (or go into your local PD and ask them how to get a job in crime scene investigation) and keep trying. Eventually you’ll land somewhere you love/pays the bills.

Best of luck to you!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi there! I'm about to start at a university where I plan on getting a Biochemistry degree and a career in forensic science. Any advice?

Heya Nonnie! As two students, our best advice for someone starting university is to get involved early. We really wish we had. 

Academically, do your readings, even if it’s to skim it. Also don’t skip out on those tiny quizzes, they add up and can be a difference between a 49 and a 50% :P.

Badger your professors for laboratory positions, read a lot about what is going on in forensics right now (beyond what the media says), go to conferences if you can, and career fairs if you can’t. Don’t get to your fourth year like us and try to start networking then- it’s too late. 

Networking is key- you will need a foot in the door to get the lab experience, or TA jobs, or the right reference to get a job. So make friends with people in different programs, make friends with your professor (and bother them in office hours. It’s surprising how often they have them and sit in their office twiddling their thumbs), and most importantly enjoy the next 3+ years in university. 

It’ll be alright if by the time you reach your last year you have no idea what you’re going to do next. Watson and I barely know what we will be doing this time next year (a Masters degree hopefully, a job in the field later on, but you never know).

It all works out in the end, so good luck! 

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi! If someone shot a through and through with something inside the gun barrel to not mark it up with lands and grooves, then used a microscope and some mechanical tool to copy the lands and grooves of a different bullet fired from a different gun onto the bullet, how can they do it so it looks authentic, but still forensics can see they are faked, but a good fake.

Heya Nonnie, we have bad news for you (sorry you waited so long to hear it).

This isn’t something someone could do. When guns are made, grooves are put into the barrel of the gun to make the bullet spin. These grooves (called the rifling) are necessary to the function of the gun, and without them the gun is useless.  Bullets need to spin as they exit the barrel of the gun, and without those grooves, the bullet doesn’t spin, which essentially means when fired, the bullet will travel about as far as you can throw it anyways, and at worst it may injure someone. These grooves are also responsible for marking the bullet and bullet casing (which are called striations).

To get more in depth y’all are going to need some definitions. During the examination of bullets and bullet casings, investigators will look for class and individual markings. Class markings are general, and are applied to all things in that category, which in this case is a gun. Each manufacturer that makes guns has a unique design for how they place the grooves into the barrel of the gun. Every gun of that type will have the same grooves.

However, each gun can still be identified and potentially individualized by two things- production marking as well as upkeep. Production markings are little errors in the production line. For example, during production, the stamp that makes the first rifling gets damaged, and so every gun made after the damage will have slightly different rifling marks than those made before the damage.  The upkeep and use of the gun will also change the grooves. Small chips, dings, rust, and all manner of things can change the rifling of a gun. You can also take a file to the rifling marks to alter those marks.

All of the marks still end up in the striation of the bullet and bullet casing, and can be used to link a gun to a fired bullet.

The most effective way to get away with a gun crime is to make sure the gun is never found, rather than trying to muck around with the striations. As always, this is strictly writing advice. Don’t commit crimes kids, it isn’t worth it.

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Aside from the murder wounds, would there be differences in appearance between the corpse of a person who froze to death and the corpse of someone who was murdered indoors and then dumped outside in sub-freezing weather?

Hey Nonnie! We have some great knowledge to share with you! (*cough* sorryitsbeenlikefourmonths*cough*)

The main difference between someone who freezes to death and someone that has been murdered and dumped outside has everything to do with the murder wounds, or cause of death. Freezing to death is a rather uncommon occurrence. Unfortunately, the late stages of hypothermia can cause a person to hallucinate, have amnesia, and just generally an altered mental state that makes them do weird things. Some people burrow further into the snow, some strip off their clothing, and many people who have survived the late stages describe feeling warm and sleepy at the time, despite minutes earlier shivering and fighting to get to safety. People that die from freezing usually do not have wounds or other indicators of being murdered. Unless your murderers MO is to get people raging drunk and then dump them in an empty field where they hopefully will not be discovered until too late.

On a cellular level, I can’t find any research that notes a difference between freezing to death and freezing already dead flesh. You may find the book “Life and death at low temperatures” by Luyet and Gehenio somewhat useful, but keep in mind this was published in 1940. It is however, free in full online as a pdf which I find very useful.

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi, I'm not sure if you take asks but i just found your blog and I was hoping you'd be willing to answer a question? I really like forensics and I'm starting my college career and I'm trying to find a major that would let me do the most forensics. I was thinking a biochemistry/chemistry double major (because it's only three extra classes) with a minor in forensics (my college doesn't offer it as a major) do you have any advice?

Hiya Nonnie, I have some bad news for you. 

We are both students just like you, so we can’t in good conscience give you any career or school advice in the strict sense. I can tell you, student to student, that your best bet is to find a science you are really passionate about (like chromatography or genetics or something idk) and apply to jobs where that science would be applied forensically. 

If microbiology is your thing, you may want to apply to work in laboratories that do research into agents of bioterrorsim. Perhaps if chemistry is your thing you may apply to work in a lab that does arson investigations. Some police departments have their own on-site laboratories, others outsource their laboratory work to outside facilities. If you are specifically wanting to be a crime scene analyst, what we have been told is join the police force as a constable and work your way up from there.

The fun thing about Forensics is literally anything can be applied in a forensic sense (like anthropology, computers, hell we had a lecture on knots... like literally rope knots and how studies are trying to validate it forensically.)

It sounds like you have some sort of plan, more than we ever had anyways, so good luck! Study hard and have fun!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

If (LAPD, so large PD) cops find a REALLY recent corpse (dead less than an hour, they were responding to a 911 call about assault, got there too late), and one of the Detectives is like "I think I know who this is but I NEED to see the left elbow" which is inside a jacket that would need to be shifted/removed to see it...how quickly could/would the body/clothing be disturbed/moved to examine the elbow, and by whom? (The head is missing, it's otherwise flat on the back, outdoors in a public area)

Hey @ vorpalgirl sorry we suck at posting on any kind of regular schedule.

Generally speaking, no one gets to touch the scene until the medical examiner has finished with it (and they get to go first. Before the cops, before the crime scene analysts). This also means no one gets to touch the body until the medical examiner arrives and clears the body. Photographs will be taken of the body within the scene, after which it is usually removed by the medical examiner/coroner and taken to the facility where the autopsy is performed.

Unfortunately for you, this means your detective is sh*t out of luck unless they don’t want to keep their job. Realistically, the detective would alert the medical examiner to this fact, and it would be checked during the autopsy as part of the identification process. I would hazard a guess of the autopsy taking place anywhere in the next 4 to 6 hours for a case of such importance (police departments usually don’t mess around with public body dumps).

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi! I'm writing a murder victim who was strangled and then dumped in the ocean, and washes up on the beach a few days later. What would the body look like? I'm imagining forensics would be able to see bruising on her neck and guess at cause of death before an autopsy? Also, would the body be at risk for predation? (I can have it wash up after a day, it doesn't really matter.) The story takes place in L.A., if that makes a difference.

As far as we can tell from the research available to us- it being in L.A. doesn’t make a difference. After a few days (3-5) days the body will be moving from freshly dead, to the bloat stage, and possibly into active decay depending on what timeline you choose.

When a person, or creature, dies, their body will go through chemical changes to begin decomposing. These are characterized by the trio of “mortis”. Algor mortis, livor mortis and rigor mortis.

Algor mortis is probably the least exciting to a writer, as it is the cooling of the body to the ambient temperature. Rigor mortis is the stiffening of limbs after the initial relaxation of the body, which will persist from 2 hours after death until approximately 14 hours after death.

Livor mortis may be most useful to you in your writing. Livor mortis is the pooling of blood in the low parts of the body, which causes purple or red discolouration of the skin in those areas. These can often look like, or potentially obscure bruising, depending on the situation.  These markings begin forming at the time of death, and will remain in place if the body is left without movement for 6 hours while they form.

Bruising can be seen post-mortem, and interestingly enough there are certain things that can be easily identified from strangling cases. What may be visible in the neck and facial area (and eyes should they be open) are Tardieu spots/ petechial haemorrhaging. They are caused by the rupturing of capillaries. I suggest googling it to see exactly what they look like, because my best description is tiny purple spots. Keep in mind though that they do not have to be present, they just usually are in some fashion (also according to Google they sometimes just develop in the later stages of livor mortis as the capillaries begin to break down naturally so take that as you will).

The body is still at risk for predation in the ocean, but less so than if it were on land. Insects cannot colonize a submerged body (there are a few exceptions), and many of the usual scavengers will also find it difficult to feed on the submerged body. But, any opportunistic sea creature may take a nibble at exposed flesh.

As an overall “what will it look like”, our best answer is pretty gnarly. Skin slippage may occur, the body may show signs of aquatic predation, the body will undoubtedly be many shades of off-skin tone, blue and purple. Depending on your timeline the body may be bloated with the gases of decomposition, or it may be falling apart due to ocean currents and decay. It is up to you.

One last final note, which I realize is a bit picky- forensics does not necessarily equal crime scene investigator, medical examiner, or police officer. Officers at the scene may note the presence of Tardieu spots, but it is up to a medical professional to determine the cause of death during the autopsy. Forensic science is the application of science to the law, and is what I would call a “catch-all” for numerous professions, each with their own requirements and validation techniques.

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Hi! I finally am getting a chance to take a high school forensics class and im so excited. Are there any tips you could give me?

Hey @viva-la-constance

That’s awesome that you get a chance to take forensicclasses in high school. Didn’t even know that was possible!! Not sure what kindof tips you’re looking for, but just try to enjoy the material in the class?

Here’s a list of things that should be done but no one everdoes (we don’t follow these tips either but we know we should): do the readings(or at least skim through it), do the work, don’t procrastinate (boy are we badat that), and learn time management (this is really important in post-secondaryschooling)

As for the materials themselves, it can be a bit squicky,but forensic is also so much fun, with lots of different subdisciplines thatcan cater to a lot of different interest. If you can figure out the field youare interested in, then your life will be a little bit more straight forward.Otherwise, enjoy the ride, and see where the class takes you ^_^

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

If human remains (same as previous question) are found of the same age/race/gender as a missing person, dead aproximately the same amount of time as the person has been missing, wearing their clothes and carrying their phone, would the authorities (small town Sheriff's department) still bother with a DNA test to confirm identity?

Hey Nonnie!

Honestly I’m not toosure in the procedure of a small town’s department, but my instinct is to saythey will confirm one way or another. If the body was fresh, they can havevisual confirmation from people that knows the missing person.

DNA testing can helpwith the confirmation, but it would really depend on if the missing personalready had their information on the genetic databases or not. Also dependingon the department budget DNA might be expensive? Like DNA testing is cheaperthan when it first started out, but it can still be pricey when other methodsof identification are available. Another thing they can do to check foridentification is to use dental records though. So they can definitely givethat a try.

Happy writing!!

[fantasticallyfactualforensics]

Right now, I'm working on a superhero story in which they are desperately trying to maintain their identities. What kind of things could they leave behind (ex., at one of their fights) to lead the police into discovering who they were? Also, there is a certain scene in which a villain sets off a bomb and then frames one of the heroes for it by using their DNA, and was wondering if it was realistic to do that.

Hey Nonnie,

For your superhero to leave behind signs of their identity,it could be anything really! If we are going the genetic route: hair, blood,saliva, etc., it does require that the police have a database with your hero’sprofile on it. Your hero may have specialty equipment (armours, weapons, chemicals)that can at least be tracked to the manufacturer, and from there, potentiallytheir clients list.

As for your villain wanting to frame the heroes with theDNA, it’s possible to do so. People shed and leave behind their DNA like crazy(shedding hair and skin, blood, hell even if you talk you’re leaving behind DNAof yourself). The problem is whether the police will be able to connect the DNAat the scene to your hero or not. Again the hero might be on their database. Ifnot the police will need a reason/warrant to actually collect the DNA to run acomparison test.

Hopefully this is enough for you to go on. Happy writing!