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A body has been discovered from a lake. How would you? Identify the body. It is important to try and establish the identity of the victim as quickly as possible. Physical identification is the most common method used to identify a body but this is not always possible as the body may be too decomposed or disfigured.
If the body has not been in the water for long articles of clothing, jewellery, scars or tattoos may help to identify the victim. Bodies submerged in water tend to decompose more slowly unless the water is very polluted. However a body that has been in water for some time may be disfigured from the bloating effect of being in water. It is important to photograph the body quickly; particularly the face as feature may deteriorate quickly once the body starts to react to the warm air. First you would try records of missing persons may give clues to possible victims and clothing or personal effects on the body may assist but this will not provide a definite identification so other forms of forensic identification should be used. You may be lucky and find a wallet with there name and address in although this may be incorrect it is a good starting point.
Radiology should be taken which will detect fractures and can bee used to get the bone age of a child. Fingerprints are an accurate method of identifying bodies and an easy method of identification if a country keeps extensive fingerprint records. However fingerprints can be affected when a body has been in water for any length of time. In these cases, skin around the knuckle joint will need to be cut and the skin removed, and placed over the finger of the person collecting the evidence; who will be wearing a surgical glove and then the fingerprint can be taken. When the outer layers of the skin have peeled off applying ink to the underside of the skin may give a reverse imprint.
If the ridges of the skin have disappeared through bloating you can put the skin in hot neatsfoot oil this will shrink the skin and may reveal the print. When these methods fail other forms of identification will be required. Tattoos are good in identification, as they are unique to the individual and as painter singe they are the tattiest will initial his as well. The more extended time the body is in the water the more obvious it may become.
Forensic Odontology is a valued method of identifying people through dental identification. The teeth are strong and will survive longer than other parts of the body. This can be seen when pre-historic bodies are found and their jawbone may still have the person s teeth in place. The structure of teeth is so strong they may even withstand intense heat. Between 15 and 21 years wisdom teeth appear but after this age it is more difficult to age a body by this method. Dental records will be examined and compared to the victims.
Different methods will be used to record this information. Diagrams will be drawn, x-rays will be taken and model cast may be made. Dental records will provide valuable information and show which teeth are missing, which teeth have had dental treatment i. e. fillings, crowns, bridges or other forms of cosmetic dentistry.
Dental records can then be compared to the teeth of a victim ante mortem and post mortem. The drawback to using this method of identification is that the investigators need to be able to locate the appropriate dentist in order to compare records. The records may not be up to date or the victim may have lost or had other treatment since the last recording. Another problem is that there is not a set method of recording dental information and each dentist may use different shorthand / codes for their recording. Scares are often a good way of identifying a body and there are different types of scars: + Injuries (stabbing, bights marks, falls as children. ) + Chickenpox scares. + Surgical scars. + Bullet wounds. These also depend on how good their medical records are.
Determining the cause of death. At the post mortem the normal post mortem procedures will be followed but additional tests will be required to identify the form of death. As with other suspicious deaths the body will be presented in the protective wrapping in which the body was removed from the scene of the incident. The body will be carefully unwrapped, and any fragments, which may fall from the body during this process, will be collected in case required for further examination. Exhibits collected at the scene will also be available to the Pathologist. First the pathologist will have to establish weather the body was when it entered the water.
So they may need to ask questions like: Could the person fall in to the water? Was it a suicide attempt? Has any foul play taken place? Are there any previous injuries? (Stab marks, bullet wounds) The Pathologist will look for signs, which will indicate that the victim has drowned.
Initial inspection of the mouth and nostrils may show white foam. If this is not immediately evident there may be signs of this inside the mouth. The skin will also appear wrinkled particularly on the hands (washerwomen hands) and feet but this will depend on how long the body has been in the water. The hands may be clenched in a cardaveric spasm, this may appear when the victim has tried to grasp grass or rocks in attempt to save themselves. Once the external evidence has been explored internal organs will give other evidence of drowning. The lungs may appear pale and distended and they will contain water and be heavier than they usually are.
The trachea and bronchi may contain foam. The chest cavity may be swollen and appear ballooned out. The stomach and oesophagus may contain water, weeds or algae which matches substances found in the water where the body was found. A diatom test will identify microscopic organisms, which are found in rivers or lakes.
As a person drowns microscopic organisms are circulated through the blood to the organs and even the bone marrow and this test can establish whether the person was alive before entering the water. The lack of these substances may suggest that the body was put in the water after the victim died. The lack of water in the lungs could mean that the body has been moved or on a few occasions the body reacted to the cold water and reflex cardiac arrest may occur when this happens signs of drowning will not be present. A haemorrhage of the middle ear is also an indicator of drowning and is caused by water pressure. This is a very good sine of drowning as it is rarely seen in other forms of asphyxia. The pathologist will then look for anything, which could have caused the person to drown.
This will include looking for illness and testing for alcohol or drugs in the body. Injuries will be noted, but it is difficult to tell whether injuries were caused pre or post death, as bodies submerged in water can be damaged in other ways. The body may have been knocked onto rocks, or hit by a boat or parts of the body eaten by fish. A recorded commentary of the post mortem is usual but this will also include information about the dental details, which will include: A) The number of teeth, this may not match the dental details has some may be missing through injury or decompose. Notes need to be made of any additional teeth.
B) Dental treatment noted, particularly noting fillings or root cavity treatment and these needs to be x-rated for comparison with previous dental x-ray records. C) Unusual mouth formations like over or under bites, crowding, spaces or multiple cusps. D) Details relating to the oral pathology i. e.
any unusual feature of the mouth, soft tissue, cleft palette, bone structure. E) Noting any disfiguration, which may have been cause by the victim s occupation i. e. professional musicians, or an occupation that requires you to hold equipment in your mouth. The only way you may be 100 % sure of death is by someone having a bullet through the head etc.
As with other post mortem procedure exhibits will be carefully collected labelled and sealed in packages. Blood, urine, organ, tissue, hair, body fluids as well as the specific samples highlighted above will be sent to the forensic laboratory for testing.
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