NCJ Number
205481
Journal
Canadian Society of Forensic Science Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2004 Pages: 9-17
Editor(s)
B. Yamashita
Date Published
March 2004
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study examined human decompositional data and identified some of the freshwater factors that affect underwater decomposition.
Abstract
In British Columbia, water-related deaths are relatively common and water is a common dumping site for homicide victims. Whether accidental, homicidal, or suicidal, the underwater crime scene is the most difficult of all forensic investigations to analyze because valuable evidence is often destroyed by water submersion and evidence that remains is often lost during the recovery of the remains. To date, almost all information gathered on underwater body decomposition is anecdotal, the result of examining and documenting the information associated with the deaths of accident, suicide, and homicide victims. This research examined human decompositional data and identified some of the freshwater factors that affect underwater decomposition. The cases used were freshwater-related deaths reported by the British Columbia Coroners Service from 1998 through 2000 and from actual human recoveries that were conducted by the Canadian Amphibious Search Team (CAST) from 1995 to 2003. Only cases with known postmortem interval, body decomposition traits, freshwater anthropophagy, and water limnology were used in this research. A list of observed characteristics was established and consistency of these traits was recorded in each of the cases. The goal was to determine whether any of the characteristics were consistent with time of submergence. Analysis of the data revealed that various aquatic factors contribute towards decomposition of a body. Some of these factors included temperature of the water where the body was found, whether the body was found in a habitat with non-flowing waters (i.e. lakes) or flowing water (i.e. streams or rivers), and whether organisms were present that consumed the body. The findings from this research suggest that postmortem characteristic identification may be a useful tool for constructing a postmortem timeline in underwater investigations. Future water-related death inquiries should include detailed recording and examination into all contributing variables, including postmortem interval, body decomposition traits, freshwater anthropophagy, and water limnology, on order to achieve a thorough and conclusive investigation. 5 tables and 20 references