NCJ Number
225549
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 35 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 78-80,82,84
Date Published
October 2008
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In order to provide law enforcement officers with a basic understanding of what information can be obtained from bones, this article provides a brief overview of the process in forensic identification of skeletal remains.
Abstract
When the call comes in regarding skeletal remains being found, officers need only to pick up the phone and call in a forensic recovery specialist, who can examine the bones for the clues they contain. Unless the officer is an expert in human osteology, the officer should leave everything found intact. However, even though officers are not directly involved in the recovery effort, it is imperative that all officers have a basic understanding (or training) of bone collection and what types of information can be gleaned from the skeletal bones. This article offers an overview in the forensic identification of skeletal remains which includes: documentation and removal of bones and determining human or nonhuman, duration of the bones buried, number of bones that should be looked for, age of the person/victim, the sex of the victim, and the victim’s race.