1st Edition

Utilizing Forensic Technologies for Unidentified Human Remains Death Investigation Resources, Strategies, and Disconnects

By George W. Adams Copyright 2016
    261 Pages
    by CRC Press

    261 Pages 42 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    In missing and unidentified investigations, an abyss of dissonance seems to exist between law enforcement and the community they serve that all too often creates grating wounds that may never heal. Utilizing Forensic Technologies for Unidentified Human Remains: Death Investigation Resources, Strategies, and Disconnects bridges this abyss.

    This is the first book that provides comprehensive coverage of the tools for forensic, law enforcement, and investigative professionals to explain how to utilize the vast repositories of online databases of evidence that can help investigators solve cold cases.

    Bringing together crucial information in a single, non-technical resource, the book reviews the use of the NCIC, CODIS, NamUs, IDENT, IAFIS, and NDIR databases. It employs a cross-disciplinary approach to forensic evidence and includes dozens of examples where these techniques have concluded in positive results.

    The book presents the material in a blended medium of both conceptual and nonfiction environments so that students, educators, investigators, families, and the public at large can easily understand. It includes dozens of examples that illustrate cases where current databases and investigative tools have yielded positive identification results.

    Helping to unite families and law enforcement, this book will assuage future dissonance through understanding and transparency. After reading this book, you will gain the understanding required to develop effective strategies for the investigation of unresolved cases with a deep sense of purpose for both family and law enforcement.

    Concepts. Complacency. Biases. By the Numbers. Resources, Strategies, and Disconnects. DNA. CODIS and NMPDD. SCJIS and NCIC. NamUs. Metadata. Dental Resources. Translational Technologies. Next Generation Identification. Rapid DNA Technology and Sentinel Events. Next Generation Sequencing and Stable Isotope Analysis. Initial Strategy and Value-Based Leadership. Initial Strategy Development. Values-Based Leadership. Final Thoughts.

    Biography

    George Adams is the former national director of operations and director of finance for the National Missing and Unidentified Person’s System (NamUs), which is a national centralized repository and resource center for missing persons and unidentified decedent records. NamUs currently, as of 2015, operates under The Forensic Services Unit of the University of North Texas: Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI). George served as the law enforcement representative on the NamUs Advisory Group Panel during the development stage of NamUs that was awarded to the National Forensic Science and Technology Center (NFSTC). He was also the main co-author of the NamUs solicitation that was awarded to the University of North Texas.