In Awhile Crocodile

By: Honey Morales -

A surgical implant inside a Queensland crocodile has brought to light the difficulties forensic scientists confront when attempting to identify human remains in the absence of substantial evidence.

Did the crocodile eat a person who had a surgical implant? If so, might the implant, which consists of a metal plate and a few screws, be used to identify the victim? Or was the implant from a dog?

It is comparatively uncommon to die at the hands of a crocodile. In Australia over the last ten years, there have been roughly 67 crocodile attacks, 25 of which have been fatal.

Unless a body part with a distinctive trait, such as a medical gadget with a serial number, is retrieved in certain situations, victim identification may be impossible. It's only one of many methods that may be used to identify the hundreds of unidentified human remains in Australia.

To determine a person's identity, cause of death and other details about them, forensic analysis of their remains is essential. In this way, the deceased can get a respectable funeral, the family of the deceased can receive information, death certificates can be given, and justice can be carried out.

It is crucial for finding missing people, catastrophe victims, and war dead.

The big three: DNA, teeth, and fingerprints

Three key scientific techniques are generally used to identify human remains when they have recovered: * Fingerprint analysis, which examines the skin patterns on the tips of fingers;

* DNA analysis, which examines DNA profiles retrieved from soft or hard body tissues. * Dental analysis, which examines the teeth and any dental work, such as crowns and fillings.

Afterwards, this data can be compared to a database of fingerprint, dental, or DNA records. Other helpful tools include implants and x-rays

The discovery of medical implants during an autopsy can also be instructive.

They could be artificial joints, breast implants, pacemakers, or dental implants. Investigators may be able to connect these to patient records thanks to their distinctive marks, which include a trade-mark, date of production, and serial number.

The Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry and the Australian Breast Device Registry in Australia collect and maintain data that can be used to identify individuals who have undergone joint or breast surgery.

Yet, there are no national databases for either dental or heart implants. Implants could be easily linked to recipients or surgeons with the use of such required documents.

Medical photos like x-rays or CT scans that were taken before and after death can also be compared by forensic experts.

Unique characteristics of head images, such as the sinuses or the placement and state of the teeth, can be compared.

Body scans can also be used to check for more uncommon skeletal characteristics including fractures, amputations, or cancerous tumours.

Large numbers of missing people or disaster victims have been identified with success using these scientific procedures, either separately or in combination.

The identification procedure has been further enhanced by the computerization, digitization, and miniaturization of forensic technologies. At the scene of a major disaster, portable tools can now be used to swiftly and efficiently gather and search medical images, fingerprints, teeth, DNA, and other identifying characteristics.

But, there are restrictions.

These techniques are only as effective as the information we have from the person's time of existence. So, these techniques are probably worthless if someone has never had a CT scan, doesn't have their fingerprints on file, hasn't been to the dentist recently, or if any close living relatives aren't willing to donate a DNA reference sample.

Also, it is quite challenging to perform surgery on an implant that lacks distinctive marks, as was the situation with the Queensland crocodile.

So, forensic scientists must look into alternative techniques. Tattoos and bones provide hints. Someone's identity may be determined by distinguishing physical characteristics like scars, birthmarks, and body alterations like tattoos and piercings.

During the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, customized tattoos were used to assist identify the victims of the infamous 1935 "shark arm case" and decaying corpses.

A forensic anthropologist can examine skeletal remains to learn a lot about a person's past life, including their sex, ancestry, stature, age, illness, and any fatal injuries.

We may be able to determine the person's birth and death dates through radiocarbon dating of their teeth and bone. Moreover, the chemical composition of the sample may reveal the area in which the subject was born, resided for an extended amount of time, or recently travelled. It can even tell what they ate.

If a skull is discovered, researchers can also create a 3D depiction of a person's face. Modern DNA intelligence tools

More cutting-edge DNA techniques are demonstrating promise for reconstructing an image of a missing person, in addition to regular DNA testing to ascertain someone's sex or family.

DNA can now be used to infer a person's ancestry as well as their hair, eye, and skin colour. But, it will still be some time before DNA can be used to determine age and facial traits with any degree of accuracy.

The use of forensic genetic genealogy to locate Jane Does is likewise becoming more widespread (unidentified females).

As long as the database owners permit law enforcement authorities to continue using the data to identify people, other nations may think about implementing a similar strategy for their cases. the benefit of "body farms"

The science of body decomposition is studied through human taphonomic facilities like the Australian Centre for Taphonomic Experimental Research. These facilities—often referred to as "body farms"—are crucial for creating new forensic identification methods. Before being applied to forensic investigations, the techniques can be evaluated on donated human bodies.

Combining knowledge from several different forensic science fields and organizing these efforts nationally is the best and most effective way to identify the remains of unidentified and missing Australians.

Investigators now have a toolset of forensic techniques to choose from to identify the victim in cases when pieces of human remains are discovered in the stomachs of crocodiles, sharks, or other human predators.

The recovery of simply an orthopedic device in this most recent case, however, has left forensic experts with more questions than answers.