Forensic applications of Isoscapes

EHLERINGER, JAMES R; CHESSON, LESLEY A; VALENZUELA, LUCIANO O; TIPPLE, BRETT

West Lafayette, Indiana

Conferencia; Isoscapes 2011; 2011

Purdue University

The stable isotope abundances of biological tissues often contain information that is of forensic interest. Among those elements of interest are hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, lead, neodymium, and strontium. The stable isotope abundances of organic and geologic particulates attached to a piece of evidence may also be of forensic interest. What is particularly useful is combining two different approaches to create forensic isoscapes: (a) an understanding the fundamental biochemical processes that result in isotopic signals in molecules and (b) isotopic variations based on spatial variations in climate, water, and soil across discrete regions. With these isoscape models, we can address two fundamental questions in forensic investigations: “Is the evidence consistent with a known location?” and “What are the possible locations from which a piece of evidence could or could not have come from?” We will explore the application of isoscapes in forensics through three distinct investigations: (a) H, C, N, and O isotopes and the origins of anthrax used in the 2001 Amerithrax Attack, (b) O isotopes and the origins of unidentified murder victim found in Massachusetts and Nevada, and (c) O and Sr isotopes and the origins of a man and woman found buried together at a gravesite.