NCJ Number
219466
Journal
Journal of Forensic Identification Volume: 57 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2007 Pages: 485-492
Date Published
July 2007
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a rare infant-to-adult footprint comparison for the purposes of determining the veracity of an individual’s declaration of United States (U.S.) citizenship.
Abstract
Results indicated that sufficient agreement was found between the infant and adult footprints to allow the U.S. State Department to accept the individual’s identification as a U.S. citizen and approve the application of a U.S. passport. The case came to the authors when a young woman who had sought refuge from the Iraq war in Australia requested a U.S. passport and claimed to have been born in the United States. As proof of U.S. citizenship, the individual only could produce an invalid birth certificate with two infant footprints. Once the birth certificate was authenticated, the authors were asked to compare the footprints of the infant to the adult woman to further corroborate her status as a U.S. citizen. Due to poor recording practices that resulted in smudged and over-inked footprints, the only area available for possible friction ridge comparison was one small area directly below the big toe of the right foot. This area was photographically enlarged and compared to samples of the adult’s footprints, which were obtained using a powdering and lifting technique. The equipment used was standard black fingerprint powder, adhesive labels, and gel-lifters. The comparison was difficult and problematic due to the poor clarity and limited quantity of friction ridge detail in the infant footprint. Transparent tracing paper was used to trace the enlarged comparable areas of both the infant and the adult footprint. The tracing noted the overall friction ridge shape and flow and the relative location and relationship of the friction ridge characteristics in each record. Since the research literature turned up no other such infant-to-adult footprint comparisons, the authors would be interested in hearing from researchers who have made such comparisons. Figures, references