NCJ Number
218472
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 52 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2007 Pages: 538-546
Date Published
May 2007
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study used a subset of the data from the longitudinal growth study conducted by the Child Research Council in Denver (mid-1900s) in order to estimate the stature of children (3-10 years old) from long-bone lengths.
Abstract
Based on study findings, this report concludes that the regression equations developed for the sample will simplify the task of stature estimation for children in forensic identifications. In producing mean estimates of stature comparable to those obtained by Maresh in a two-step process, this report's proposed regression equations are faster to use and provide one stature-estimation figure for the means. It is also shown that height estimates obtained from these equations are broadly comparable to those obtained with the Finnish equations of Telkka and colleagues. Although age is more commonly estimated from children's long-bone lengths in forensic identification casework than is stature, in cases of war or mass disasters, stature may be important for children's identification. In some cases, a stature estimate may prove useful in conjunction with an age estimate. The report cautions not to generalize stature estimates beyond the racial characteristics of the specific study population. Records of 67 subjects (31 boys and 36 girls) from the Denver growth study were selected for analysis. In order to use a consistent measurement of bone length from these records, age could not extend beyond 12 years old. Measurements were taken of the greatest possible length of the bone shaft. All measurements were from radiographs. 5 tables, 7 figures, and 43 references