Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: Dead Bodies

I have this dead body (in a fanfic) that was killed in early November and isn't found until May. The body has been lying basically in the open, covered with a few leaves and twigs. It's in a wooded area and in cold country area (like Ontario).

Questions:
What would the body look like after 7 months? Would a next of kin be able to identify the face or anything else? (I don't have time for DNA testing.)
Would the police ask the next of kin to identify the body?

Thanks for your help oh wise ones out there.

gerry

Urk. I think the cold weather would help, but I doubt the face would be recognizable. OTOH, a distinctive ring, watch, or other piece of jewelry likely would.

And checking dental records is a matter of a few days -- possibly a few hours, if someone (Superman, maybe) could quickly get a forensic dentist to the scene (or more likely, the local morgue) and the suspected match's dental records from his/her dentist.


Oh, and good thing you added the parenthetical qualification . . .

Gerry, are you writing again - i hope.

So, is there anything on the body or with the body that would help with the identification? purse or wallet with all the customary stuff, or an id bracelet (especialy a medic alert) , credit card in a pocket, dog tags, a locket? If the police have a possible ID, then family could maybe id the body from clothing (synthetics deteriorate more slowly) or from a watch or a ring. Hair doesn't deteriorate very quickly so if the hair were distinctive in some way....

C.

Hi,

Have you see on tv does FBI Forensic Science programs.
They present does case and usually find bones,clothes and some tissues, when body is expose to the environment.

I use to work on a cemetery and in very humid condition with close casket a body can keep in very good condition seem to lose density.
I saw bodies that look fresh after 10 years in a wet condition with close casket.

MAF

I can't answer the question, but can I just say that this is exactly why these boards are so great for fanfic questions? Can you imagine Gerry calling up her local police station or hospital and saying, "OK, I have this dead body ..."



Kathy

Gerry, are you working on Blind Spots again or is this something new? Oh dear, I'm feelling worse and worse that I'm not available to beta right now. As for the dead body, isn't Ontario snowbound for months and months? I think maybe a body in a snowbank could be perfectly preserved and recognizable. Otherwise, all those suggestions everyone elese made.

Jude

Gerry, I asked my husband. I promise he is not a serial killer, really, but he does know a thing or two about the topic.

(Just reread that and that sounds suspicious and creepy even to me. Might should rephrase.)

Gerry, I asked a source who isn't completely unknowledgable on the subject...(much better)

In his opinion, if it's cold enough, features could very well be recognizable even after all that time.

And so, what I need to know, for my own research, is who's dead? And how much longer before we get to see?

CC

I took a undergrad class in forensic anthropology last year, but unfortunately I no longer have my book with me!!!

From what I remember, cold is a good preserver but you also said the body was in a wooded area, therefore there will probably be animal scavengers. They have a tendency to pick apart bodies & drag bones & what not away from the actual body. That hampers identification.

As for asking the next of kin to ID the body, it depends on the amount of decomposition. When a body is no longer identifiable by its fingerprints, face, dental records or other marks, anthropologists will study the bones to come up with an estimation of age, sex, ethnicity, occupation, etc...

Thats all i can remember for now! I hope this is useful! Good Luck writing your story!

But not if the body is frozen solid.

We had an actual case like this years ago near here. A man disappeared while hunting and they didn't find him until the spring thaw. Apparently, he'd been shot by one of the other hunters. I wish I could remember more details. I will definitely ask my hubby if he remembers the story when I get home tonight.

Thanks for your help, folcs.

I hadn't thought about the scavenging animals, but if they exist, n my story, they'll only pick at the flesh, not carry parts away.

I'd like body to be identifiable by the next of kin, so Anne please check with your husband.

And I hope to have this finished by spring thaw, but no guarantees....and I don't post until I'm finished (because I'm always afraid that I'll never finish.)

gerry

Hey Gerry.

I watch a *lot* of forensic tv programs, and I studied face-sculpting under a forensic sculptor, so maybe I can help. Probably after being left for so long, all that would be found are the clothing, bones, and jewelry. However, from the bones, a good forensic pathologist can tell weight, age, race, and sex. <g> They now have computer programs to do the work of a forensic sculptor, but such a person can take a plaster cast of the skull, and using pre-determined tissue depths, come up with a pretty accurate portrait of the deceased.

Laura (who knows how to do that)

Okay, according to my husband -- who was a science/pre-med major in college so it's not really that creepy -- a dead body will build up gases first making it bloat which is what causes decomposition. That process takes about 12 hours. If the person is killed late in the day and it's so cold that the body freezes right away, then the face will be completely preserved as long as it stays frozen.

Hope that helps...

Thanks a lot everybody. I promise to treat my dead body...no...I mean the dead body with a great deal of respect (and knowledge).

gerry