Forensic Examination of Soil on a Shovel to Narrow the Search for a Clandestine Grave Along a Transcontinental Path
Abstract
A suspect kidnapped his two children in Concord, NH and was arrested 6 days later, 5000 km west in Gilroy, CA without his children in a vehicle with blood stains, digging tools, and firearms. Time-stamped receipts constrain the suspect's principal travel path along U.S. Interstate Highways 84 and 80, including the purchase of digging tools near Grove City, PA. The police investigation aimed to find the children's bodies as evidence of homicide. The suspect initially confessed to shooting his children and relayed information about the location of the grave site, but law enforcement personnel were uncertain if the suspect's statements were true. After a prolonged law enforcement effort to search for the grave site, largely in NW Ohio and N Indiana, the digging tools were sent for a soil provenance examination. While forensic examinations were underway, the suspect took his own life while in police custody. Due to the prolonged search efforts, and death of the suspect, the police stopped active search efforts before the forensic soil provenance report was issued.
Soil was recovered from three digging tools (<1g) and examined by: 1) reflected light microscopy for coarse characteristics; 2) color; 3) polarized light microscopy of the sand to coarse silt-sized particles; 4) powder XRD of the fine silt- to clay-sized fraction; and 5) light microscopy for pollen identification. The geologic material was a mixture of minerals inconsistent with a single paragenetic origin, composed of moderately sorted particles, angular to sub-angular in shape, all consistent with derivation from a glacial deposit. The pollen assemblage contained palynomorphs consistent with NE Ohio, to include Tsuga and wetland insect-pollinated taxa. The soils also contained anthropogenic materials: flyash, paint, concrete, and plastic. The forensic report suggested the likely burial site was in NE Ohio, near a wetland, largely east of the prior primary search area. A press release, including the soil-base inferences 2 years after the kidnapping soliciting the public to aid in the investigation ultimately led to a private citizen discovering the grave site in NE Ohio, consistent with the interpretation of the soil on the shovel.- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.B53F2133W
- Keywords:
-
- 0486 Soils/pedology;
- BIOGEOSCIENCESDE: 1065 Major and trace element geochemistry;
- GEOCHEMISTRYDE: 1094 Instruments and techniques;
- GEOCHEMISTRYDE: 0240 Public health;
- GEOHEALTH