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A multidisciplinary approach in the investigation of unidentified decedents employs the use of a variety of scientific approaches. This approach is applied in casework in North Carolina, USA and has led to successful identifications using anthropological analysis and population affinity estimation using 3D-ID, investigative genetic geneaology (IGG), and isotopic analyses. Results from one scientific approach can help to inform the others, providing more information about the decedent, and thus enhancing the investigation. This case report outlines three cases from North Carolina that combine each of these scientific approaches and serve as examples of collaboration in a multidisciplinary approach. Key points Anthropological analyses including population affinity using 3D-ID can be used in conjunction with isotopic analyses in estimating geographic origin. Results from anthropological and isotopic analyses can help to narrow down or direct IGG. Multidisciplinary collaboration in the investigation of unidentified decedents enhances the investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Special Issue in the journal "Forensic Sciences Research" focuses on the challenges faced by forensic experts in identifying human remains, highlighting the importance of collaborative and evidence-based approaches. The articles feature diverse cases and methods, emphasizing the need for a multidisciplinary strategy involving various scientific disciplines. Authors from 11 countries contribute to the issue, showcasing innovative techniques such as virtual re-association of fragmented remains and stable isotope analyses in solving identification cases. The Special Issue underscores the significance of forensic anthropology and interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing complex forensic identification scenarios. [Extracted from the article]

Much has been made about the potential impact of fictional crime scene shows in the media on jury verdicts. However, there has been little discussion about how those programs, and the myriad of other true crime shows and documentaries may otherwise influence the actual investigative process. The intent of this paper is to discuss ways that such shows may impact the investigative process. The focus will be on the investigation of old, unsolved cases, commonly referred to as cold cases, because of the increasing focus on forensics in all aspects of the investigation and the number of television shows that feature such cases. This paper is not intended to be an academic study of the issue, as it relies much on anecdotal evidence and the experience of the author and others. The purpose is to hopefully generate further discussion and research with the goal of improving the investigative process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigative genetic genealogy has rapidly emerged as a highly effective tool for using DNA to determine the identity of unknown individuals (unidentified remains or perpetrators), generating identifications in dozens of law enforcement cases, both cold and active. The amount of press coverage of these cases may have given the impression that the analysis is straightforward and the outcome guaranteed once a sample is uploaded to a database. However, the database query results serve only as clues from which in-depth genealogy and descendancy research must proceed to determine the possible identities of an unknown individual. While there certainly will be more announcements of cases solved using this new technique, there are many more cases where identification has not yet been possible due to the wide variety of complications present in these investigations. This paper lays out the fundamentals of genetic genealogy, along with the challenges that are encountered in many of these investigations, and concludes with a set of case studies that demonstrate the variety of cases encountered thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever changing technology is allowing law enforcement/crime laboratories the ability to use new advances to solve old cases. Exonerations through advances in DNA testing have become increasingly common. However, other forensic disciplines are also utilizing new technologies, which are providing investigative leads and case closures. One advancement is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Next Generation Identification (NGI) biometric system, which has enhanced the field of print identification. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) Latent Evidence Unit is utilizing NGI to assist in solving "Cold Cases." While the OSBI cold case project has been successful, reviewing old evidence and case files, while keeping up with current casework, can be challenging. However, the recognition and application of such powerful technology is warranted, as demonstrated by the success that has been achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Re-investigation of previously unidentified remains from the Korean War has yielded 55 new identifications, each with corresponding records of prior anthropological analyses. This study compares biological assessments for age at death, stature, and ancestry across (i) anthropological analyses from the 1950s, (ii) recent anthropological analyses of those same sets of remains, and (iii) the reported antemortem biological information for the identified individual. A comparison of long bone measurements from both the 1950s and during reanalysis is also presented. These comparisons demonstrate commonalities and continuing patterns of errors that are useful in refining both research on Korean War cold case records and forensic anthropological analyses performed using methods developed from the 1950s identifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – As a result of advances in DNA and other forensic technologies, police agencies are showing increased interest in cold-case investigations, with larger departments dedicating staff to conducting these investigations or forming cold-case squads. The purpose of this paper is to provide information on how police agencies organize and conduct cold-case investigations. Design/methodology/approach – To assess the current practices used in cold-case investigations, an exploratory survey was sent to a stratified random sample of police agencies across the US survey findings are based on 1,051 returns. Findings – Results include the following. Most agencies do little cold-case work, with only 20 percent having a protocol for initiating cold-case investigations, 10 percent having dedicated cold-case investigators, and 7 percent having a formal cold-case unit. Cold-case funding is tenuous: 20 percent of cold-case work is funded through line items in the budget, with most funded by grants or supplemental funds. Success rates for cold-case investigations are low: about one in five cases are cleared. Agency factors associated with higher clearance rates included level of funding and access to investigative databases. Practical implications – As new forensic tools are developed, cold-case investigations will become an increasingly prominent activity of criminal investigation units. The survey reported on in this paper gives the first glimpse of how agencies are handling these cases. Originality/value – To the knowledge, there are no other empirical studies on how agencies structure and conduct cold-case investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold cases are like time capsules for law enforcement. We try to open them using the methods that have been developed since any previous attempt. In this case, a young woman, Jane Doe #48, went unidentified between her death in 1971 and her exhumation and analysis in 2008. This paper details the specialties and forensic techniques used to achieve this identification. A new method using teeth to determine age and season at death is highlighted, for this was one of the first applications of the method to a real case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study investigates offending patterns of perpetrators of serious sexual assaults (SSA) who were not initially identified at the time of the offense. Thirty-eight adult male offenders were identified through Operation Advance, a phased approach program that forensically reviewed historical sexual offense cases submitted to the UK Forensic Science Service during 1989 to 1999. Results indicated that approximately one-third of the SSA offenders received a post-offense conviction for a sexual‐contact offense. Results showed greater chronicity and versatility of the subsequent offenses for those younger index offenders. Explanations for the findings are discussed with implications for suspect prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in forensic techniques have expanded the temporal horizon of criminal investigations, facilitating investigation of historic crimes that would previously have been considered unsolvable. Public enthusiasm for pursuing historic crimes is exemplified by recent high-profile trials of celebrities accused of historic sexual offences. These circumstances give new urgency to the question of how we should decide which historic offences to investigate. A satisfactory answer must take into account the ways in which the passage of time can erode the benefits of criminal investigation, the costs associated with investigating old crimes, and the need to prioritize investigations in the face of limited police resources. This article emphasizes the first of these factors. It begins by considering the moral goals of a criminal justice system and the contribution of criminal investigations to the achievement of these goals, distinguishing between contributions that depend on further steps in the criminal justice process, such as prosecution and punishment, and contributions that can have value independently of these further steps. Using this important distinction, the article then examines a range of factors that relate the passage of time to criminal justice goals, including the seriousness of the crime; deterioration of evidence; death of the offender, victim and others affected by the crime; and diminished psychological connectedness between those affected by the crime and their current selves. While the range and non-uniformity of relevant factors preclude a simple answer to the question of when historic crimes should be investigated and call instead for case-by-case assessment, we find that the analysis does support some general conclusions that can guide such an assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cold case squads have garnered much attention; however, they have yet to undergo significant empirical scrutiny. In the present study, the authors interviewed investigators and reviewed 189 solved and unsolved cold cases in Washington, D.C., to determine whether there are factors that can predict cold case solvability. In the interviews, new information from witnesses or information from new witnesses was cited as the most prevalent reason for case clearance. The case reviews determined that there were factors in each of the following domains that predicted whether cases would be solved during cold case investigations: Crime Context, Initial Investigation Results, Basis for Opening Cold Case, and Cold Case Investigator Actions. The results suggest that it is possible to prioritize cold case work based on the likelihood of investigations leading to clearances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study examines whether the use of forensic awareness strategies increases the chance of avoiding police detection in sexual homicide. Methods: Logistic and negative binomial regression analyses are used on a sample of 350 cases of sexual homicide – 250 solved and 100 unsolved cases – in order to determine if forensic awareness strategies are related to the status of the case (i.e., solved versus unsolved) and the number of days before body recovery, while controlling for certain victim characteristics. Results: Although an offender’s use of precautions does not seem to increase the offender’s chance of avoiding police detection, some modus operandi behavior adopted by the offender at the crime scene may help to delay the discovery of the victim, and thus delay the offender’s apprehension. Moreover, the likelihood of whether or not a sexual murderer is apprehended varied significantly across victim characteristics. Conclusion: Some offenders seem to exhibit rational thinking in targeting certain types of victims and in adopting certain strategies in order to delay body recovery. Number of days until body recovery is a more appropriate measure of detection avoidance than case status, as it is not biased by administrative rules or timing of data entry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In 1968, a child's cranium was recovered from the banks of a northern Canadian river and held in a trust until the 'cold case' was reopened in 2005. The cranium underwent reanalysis at the Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, using recently developed anthropological analysis, 'bomb-pulse' radiocarbon analysis, and forensic DNA techniques. Craniometrics, skeletal ossification, and dental formation indicated an age-at-death of 4.4 ± 1 year. Radiocarbon analysis of enamel from two teeth indicated a year of birth between 1958 and 1962. Forensic DNA analysis indicated the child was a male, and the obtained mitochondrial profile matched a living maternal relative to the presumed missing child. These multidisciplinary analyses resulted in a legal identification 41 years after the discovery of the remains, highlighting the enormous potential of combining radiocarbon analysis with anthropological and mt DNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications for forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of forensic evidence in the criminal justice system has grown appreciably in the United States. Yet policies that dictate how state and local agencies maintain and store forensic evidence have not kept pace. This study examined the prevalence of evidence retention policies, as well as storage locations and tracking systems, in a nationally representative sample of state and local law enforcement agencies. Less than half of U.S. police departments have a policy for preserving biological evidence from convicted offenders. Among agencies having a policy, the responsibility for retaining evidence was most commonly placed with the investigating law enforcement agency. Implications of these findings and policy directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In spite of the growth of forensic science services little published research exists related to the impact of forensic evidence on criminal case outcomes. The present study focused on the influence of forensic evidence on the case processing of homicide incidents. Materials and Methods: The study utilized a prospective analysis of official record data that followed homicide cases in five jurisdictions from the time of police incident report to final criminal disposition. Results: The results showed that most homicides went unsolved (34.5% conviction rate). Only 55.5% of the 400 homicide incidents resulted in arrest of which 77% were referred to the district attorney. On the other hand, 94% of cases referred to the district attorney were charged. Cases were more likely to have arrests, referrals, and charges when witnesses provided information to the police. Suspects who knew their victims were more likely to be arrested and referred to the district attorney. Homicides committed with firearms were less likely to be cleared. The most noteworthy finding was that none of the forensic evidence variables significantly influenced criminal justice outcomes. Conclusions: The study results suggest that forensic evidence is auxiliary and non-determinative for homicide cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article an empirically grounded study of the police practices used when conducting cold case reviews of unsolved homicides is used to illuminate the key features of what is termed ‘retroactive social control’. It is suggested that this mode of social control, that works by placing past events under new descriptions, is an increasingly important feature of how social control is being imagined and delivered, and is predicated upon the capacity to de-stabilize and re-write previous official definitions of a situation. Retroactive social control it is posited encompasses two inter-twined dimensions: the social control of collective memory, in terms of what is remembered and how; and social control through memory, wherein the shaping of the past influences the enactment of control in the present. The focus upon police cold case reviews suggests how forensic evidence and new investigative technologies have played an important role in shaping the development of these innovative aspects of contemporary policing. As such, the empirical focus illuminates a broader trend relating to how developments in science and technology are affording new possibilities in the ways that social control is conceptualized and conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years considerable progress in the field of forensic science (latent prints, ballistics and biology) have occurred, causing the reopening investigation of old unsolved murders, called “Cold Cases”, especially when findings can still be analyzed and/or re-analyzed taken into account new technologies and new scientific methodologies. The UDI working group (Unsolved Crimes Unit) of the Italian National Police, which collects scientific and technical expertise and investigators, deals to assess which unresolved cases could be selected in relation to new investigative hypotheses or/and in the presence of not analyzed samples. During last two years about 30 cases, occurred between 1985 and 2005, were selected. In particular, in eight cases the DNA analysis led to the identification of one or more genetic profiles that are considered of great interest from the investigative point of view, allowing the identification of the murderers in three different cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]