LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
I spend about 90% of my time sitting in front of a computer looking at fingerprints. The rest of the time I go to crime scenes to photograph and process for fingerprints and collect items of evidence. When I was at the coroner's office I probably spent 40% of the time examining victim's clothing, 10% on gunshot residue testing, 30% on hairs and fibers, and 20% everything else.
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See above. I have a bachelor's degree in biology, plus over a thousand hours of continuing education in forensic topics (accumulated over 20 years).
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I'm not sure what you mean by 'off the job training.'
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Temporarily, with sandpaper or chemicals, but they will grow back in the same pattern.
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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)
Is there a big difference in the amount of mail you deliver today from 5-10 years ago?
Nightclub Promoter
How do you decide who gets into your club?
Firefighter
How can you tell if a fire was arson?
Usually the biggest worry is getting sick or faint around dead bodies. But actually they rarely do.
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DNA and digital forensics will continue to grow in terms of technology and attention.
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Interesting question, but I doubt I can be of much help. A body can do one of two things after death--decompose or desiccate. So it might turn into sludge or it might become a mummy. It might depend on temperature or pH levels (more relevant if the car was buried) to determine which way it would go. Being sealed would definitely slow the process to a crawl. I had a body in an attic once that was partially wrapped in plastic, and after three years the wrapped areas still had plenty of flesh and the unwrapped parts were down to bone.
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