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.
32. It was my second career, I majored in political science during my first round at college and was a personnel secretary for ten years first.
Share Answer: 
That determination is made by the pathologist doing the autopsy, and there are a number of ways--body temperature, rate of decomposition, rigor mortis, but it will be an estimate, not the precise number that you might see on TV. All those things can depend on the environment where the body is, temperature, exposure, physical characteristics of the victim, medical conditions etc. Entomologists can help if there is distinct bug activity at the scene as well.
Hope that helps!
Share Answer: 
If the bottle is sealed well, I don't think so. Hair is pretty tough.
Share Answer: 
I’m so sorry for your loss. My advice would be to use rubber gloves and take the items to a porch or some dry outside spot if it’s not going to rain for a while, or the garage or utility room if so. If you’re sensitive to smells you might use swimmers nose plugs or a bandana tied over your face. Spread the items out on a clean paper bag or newspaper (or wax paper if there’s some pieces of paper in his wallet you want to keep. Anything that can be wet, like car keys or plastic cards, dip or wash them in a container of water with some bleach in it, then let dry. Let all the stuff in the wallet dry if necessary, then keep what you want and discard the rest. Some of the smell will dissipate the longer its left to dry but if it’s something that can’t be soaked in bleach, you may never get a smell completely out, as far as I know. Best of luck.
Share Answer: 
Emergency Room Manager
What is the most bizarre thing you've seen in your ER?
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Do you ever operate on guys who get their jaws busted in a fight?
"The Onion" Contributors
What's your favorite Onion headline of all time?
Most people are cross-trained in more than one area. In smaller agencies people might have to wear a lot of hats.
Share Answer: 
Sure, email me at lisa-black@live.com.
Share Answer: 
Biology would help with the natural fibers (like cotton or fibers from plants, or hairs from animals like wool) and chemistry helped with analyzing synthetic fibers with polarized light or fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Those last two don't work on natural fibers because they're not consistent all the way through like a synthetic fiber, that comes out of a machine.
Fiber analysis was usually only examined in cases of stabbing, strangling or bludgeoning, where there had to be close physical contact between victim and suspect. (A gunshot didn't mean there had to be contact.) It was only a small part of my days. Very little is done any more because you can only say the fibers are consistent with having come from a particular sample, you can't say they did, as in DNA or fingerprints. You can't even give a statistic for how likely it would be to find a particular fiber unless it came from the suspect, etc., because we can't know how many items with that fiber are in the environment.
Only collection would be done in the field, to do anything more you would need the microscopes and the equipment at the lab.
Hope that helps!
Share Answer: 
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
