Citation

Pringle JK, Jervis JR. Forensic Sci. Int. 2010; 202(1-3): e1-7.

Affiliation

School of Physical Sciences & Geography, Keele University, William Smith Building, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK. j.k.pringle@esci.keele.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.04.023

PMID

20471188

Abstract

This case report details an electrical resistivity survey to assist the search for a suspected 1-year-old clandestine burial of a murder victim in North Wales in the UK. Conventional search techniques (victim recovery dogs and probing) proved unsuccessful, and with a significant survey area and a high clay content soil precluding GPR as a geophysical search method, a resistivity survey was instead trialled. Ten resistivity grids were collected and site detrended with user-specified, contoured anomalies being generated. The resulting anomalies were compared to anomalies derived from similar-aged, simulated clandestine burial surveys. Seven anomalies with comparative sizes and amplitudes (±3Ω) of the simulated burials were identified within the search area and prioritised for further investigation. The shallowly buried victim was subsequently recovered outside the survey area.

Language: en