NCJ Number
131260
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 36 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 1134-1151
Date Published
1991
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The correlation of foot or shoeprint length to a person's height is examined in the anthropological literature and is evaluated in large United States Army anthropometric databases.
Abstract
The biological correlation between foot length and height estimation provides the crime investigator with a tool in foot or shoeprints for determining certain aspects of a suspect's physical description. Previous utilization of percentages and linear regressions of foot length and shoeprints to make height estimates is reviewed and appraised. A practical forensic application of this correlation is reviewed in the context of an examination of the foot length and height of over 8,000 U.S. Army personnel and a determination of the relationship between foot length and shoe length in a sample of male police officers. Recommendations and conclusions are presented regarding variations in foot length to height percentages, measure of foot length, foot and shoe impressions, bare foot prints on a hard surface, foot length, shoeprint length and height covering shoe size, and direct determination. Scientific estimation of height in humans by means of a component of the body such as foot length can never provide exact results, but can be evaluated in statistical terms only. 1 figure, 2 tables, and 66 references (Author abstract modified)