4. Body Disposal Flashcards
Methods of body disposal
Burial - single/mass Water Storage above ground Cremation Exposure Dissolution (disolve body) Maceration Cannibalism
Methods of body preservation
Mummification Cryopreservation Taxidermy Plastination Embalming
Methods to speed up process of disposal
Burning
Dismemberment
Burial
Chemicals
Properties of deposition sites
Usually known to perpetrator
Usually attempts are made to hide/conceal body in some way
Adults are deposited close to vehicle access points
Bodies tend to be buried less than 4 feet deep
What factors influenced the body disposal sites in child abductions?
Sex of offender
Sex of victim
Age of victim
Motivation for abduction
What links primary and secondary depositoin sites?
Pollen
Soil
Machinery
Body parts
Methods to detect a burial site
Changes to soil profile
Changes to vegetation
from products of decomposition
How does burial affect vegetation?
Can have a negative effect on plants due to smothering and leachate-liquids that leak from body
High nitrogen and ammonia content cause death of plants which are replaced by those that like soil with a high pH (nettles)
Soil disturbance can lead to different species growth
How can odours aid detection of remains?
Cadaver dogs
Field portable instruments (decompositional odour analysis)
What does thermal imaging do?
Shows up heat sources
Can be used on the recently deceased even with shallow burial
Could be used during active decomposition for surface deposition (more research needed)
How does GPR work? (ground penetrating radar)
Transmission of electromagnetic wave energy
Travels faster through less dense material (e.g. disturbed soil)
Indicates anomalise which have to be interpreted and explored
Can have problems in urban areas with tree roots etc and clay soils
How does resistivity work?
Detects electrical current in subsurface soils
Measures organic content of soils e.g. moisture
Historic and contemporary debris can cause problems
Surface disturbances cause problems e.g. ploughing/paving
How does magnetometry work
Measurement of earths magnetic field versus other magnetic fields
Looks for areas where magnetism is higher/lower than expected
More useful in less disturbed soils
Problematic in urban areas e.g. power lines
