NCJ Number
139757
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 1445-1458
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the methodology and progress of Project PIG, which is using a multidisciplinary research team to devise and apply methods for the detection of clandestine graves.
Abstract
The study is using the burial of a number of pigs as case studies for the obtaining of data on methods for the detection of clandestine graves. Prior to burial of the first of six pigs that have thus far been buried in September 1988, baseline data that consisted of black-and- white aerial photographs, geophysical measurements, and geological observations were acquired for the research site. Near-field and far-field data gathering were performed prior to and after burial. Far-field observations contemporaneous with burial for this study include botany, entomology, geology/soil science, aerial photography, geophysics, thermal imagery, soil gas, scavenging patterns, and the use of cadaver-scenting dogs. Near-field observations contemporaneous with and after burial include all of these methods as well. The techniques for each of these methods are described, as well as the results thus far of the use of these techniques. A table lists the advantages and disadvantages of each of the methods. A glossary and 26 references