The art
of searching with a long-term vanishing. ©
LiSAR
Searching for a person
that has been missing for a long time where there is a suspicion that
they have been buried at a certain location, is a very hard and time
consuming job, where a wide variety of trace methods are deployed.
With
a large number of inquiries it is desirable or necessary that at a
certain time an area is searched by a handler with a Human Remain
Detection Dog.
Background information.
The
important thing for a search mission is to find out if the person is
still alive or not. If the person is still alive, “The art of
searching” can be used.
If
the search mission is conducted with the assumption that the person has
deceased or you have a long-term vanishing case you may be able to use
the information below.
The decomposing of a
human body.
The
speed in which a human body decomposes is strongly dependant of the
structure of the earth, how much more oxygen comes in contact with the
body how faster the body will decompose. If the remain of a body are let
openly exposed to light it will have completely turned into a skeleton
in 1 year. In warm areas like the dessert this will happen in 2 months.
In a layer of clay the body is completely closed off from oxygen and
decomposing is impossible. A body in a layer of clay will be completely
mummified. In a dry earth, the body will have turned into a skeleton in
5 years. Water slows down the process and in a swampy ground it will
take 10 years.
If on
the day that the grave that has been dug, (the vanishing day) it was
raining heavily and the grave was very wet, there is a very large chance
that the state of decomposing is less further.
The
health of a missing person, big fat layers, huge muscles and or even
clothing, slow down the decomposing process.
A
tightly woven pair of jeans conserves much better than a flannel summer
pants and nylons totally stop the decomposing. It is possible that the
nylon is still intact and that the legs that have become a skeleton are
still inside. If the body is wrapped in plastic, the decomposing stops
and the contents are conserved.
Overview.
The
speed of decomposing is dependant on temperature, humidity and
surroundings:
Level of decomposing:
-
cold (< 10 degrees Celsius) slow
-
warm (> 10 degrees Celsius) fast
-
Dry slow
-
Moist fast
-
Buried slow
-
open fast
The cause of decomposing can be found in the flora.
-
Open/moist: body grease,
bacteria, insects and animals.
-
Covered/moist: body grease,
bacteria
-
Open/dry: bacteria,
insects and animals.
-
Covered/dry mummification.
This way an estimate can be made of the time that a body will be
present:
-
up to 6 months: warm/moist/open.
-
6 months to a year: warm/moist/covered.
-
1 to 3 years: cold/moist/open and
warm/dry/open.
-
3 to 5 years: cold/moist covered and
cold/dry/open and warm/dry covered.
-
5 to 10 years: cold/dry/covered.
Scent.
These
circumstances do not only play a role in how fast a body decomposes, but
they also play a role in the amount of scents (and which ones) the dog
picks up while searching. Besides the faze of death, temperature and air
pressure play a role in how much scent the dog can receive.
·
High surrounding
temperature: air raises higher, more evaporation.
·
Low surrounding
temperature: air stays more on the (water) surface/ less evaporation.
·
Low air
pressure : strong spreading of air, more
evaporation.
·
High air
pressure : less spreading of the air, less
evaporation.
Besides a high wind speed gives the possibility that a scent is carried
further.
Good
conditions: high temperature/ low air pressure/ lots of wind.
Bad
conditions: low temperatures/high air pressure/little wind.
The art
of searching with a long-term vanishing. ©
LiSAR
Working method in case
of a crime
There
are a few reasons why someone stays missing.
1.
There is a crime.
2.
The person does not
want to be found/or is staying abroad.
3.
An accident has
occurred.
(We
will not discuss numbers 2 and 3)
The
below is very dependant of the interpretation and the belief, besides
perseverance and dedication are necessary for maximum success.
Preliminary
©
LiSAR
1.
Check the
circumstances of the crime (possible) what kind of perpetrators are to
be considered.
2.
Get inside the
perpetrators head, do not watch the details, these distract. Look at the
suspicious terrain trough the eyes of the killer.
3.
If it is a murder
in the first degree, than the killer could have brought something like a
shovel and might have dug deeper. But there is a chance he will be
discovered, so he will find a place where no one can be expected.
4.
A sex crime is done
by a perpetrator 9 times out of 10.
5.
The impulsive
killer dumps his victim under branches, leaves, of buries it very
shallow. Often the earth has not been put back right or the vegetation
has been stepped on. It all has to go very quick.
6.
Take into account
that there could more perpetrators in a hit, they could drag a body a
lot further than 250 metres.
7.
Preferably the area
until 250 metres around a path that is accessible by car
Questions.
© LiSAR
Did
the perpetrators have a car? Which route (could they have) taken? Where
has the suspicious car been sighted? preferably next to a path
accessible by car. Check how heavy the missing body is and ask yourself:
how far could you drag it if it has to go quick, this is seldom more
than 250 metres, with a body of 60 to 100 kilos.
8.
The body is not
buried near trees or bushes. This is due to the roots because you cannot
dig near thes. (if it was a very long time ago branches or trees could
have grown over the body, by judging the age of the trees you can
calculate back and see if this was possible at the time of the
vanishing). 
9.
Look for an open
piece of terrain, against the dark forest rim. The killer will took for
a place where he is out of sight.
10.
The body is often (buried)no
deeper than 2 metres.
11.
An average depth of
between 50 and 170 centimetres.
12.
If the body is not
deeper than 70 centimetres, foxes and wild swine’s can smell it. The
limbs are than spread all over the area, check if these are common in
the area.
13.
Look for a descent
in the ground and if recent (fresh) for traces of digging.
14.
The location of a
grave is even after months or years clearly recognisable by the growth
of nettles, greener grass, there are more weeds an there are an
explosive growth of plants. The growing season of plants plays a major
role. Also look for combinations of descents and nettles, greener grass,
moor weeds or explosive plant growth.
15.
The earth is
darker, like shadow has fallen.
16.
Unmoved, dark
earth, without vegetation does not mean that there is no corpse. It
sometimes takes longer than a year before plant growth comes above the
earth.
17.
Look for
combinations of these factors, than you have a 70% chance that there is
a body.
18.
Nettles grow
perfectly on concrete in the ground, because there is calcium in it. But
also human remains have good nutritious values.
Deployment in combination
with the stick and the Human remain Detection Dog.
© LiSAR
If an
interesting area (ad. 1 - 18) has been found, than the HRD dog can be
deployed. The mission can be handled at best according to the settings
below.
1.
Search the area
roughly against the wind.
2.
If this has no
result than switch to the precise search method.
3.
If this also does
not give result a special metal stick can be used.
Working method metal
stick.
© LiSAR
-
Poke the stick every 50 centimetres and make a straight line. The
second row is 30 centimetres beside it. Between, the first and
second stab and so on. Cover the entire area this way, use pickets
and rope.
After the holes have been
made, deploy the HRD dog again, against the wind. 
b.
Use the special
metal stick 60 to 70 centimetres deep, in an angle of 45 degrees, poke
the hole with the wind, so that you don’t step on the holes.
c.
You can poke the
ground easily if there has been digging, before. If you feel a
resistance / it is very hard, than you have a virgin ground, it takes
years (decenniums) before the ground turns hard again.
d.
If you hit
something soft and it bounces back reasonably than it could be a body.
(like a buried “full” garbage bag). Poke through it and than pull the
stick back in the same angle. The rotting, dying bacteria rise n a cloud
or in a vaporisation form. Because of the poking in an angle of 45
degrees with the wind a sucking motion is created from the source
of the scent. This can be easily sniffed by the HRD dog.
e.
If you have a lead
from your dog or “your own suspicions” that there has been something
buried, carefully remove the upper layer, the grass layer. The change in
the earth structure stays visible forever. The sand layer, humus layer,
the oldest layers never fall back into their original structure. The
with old sand layer is between the dark hummus.
f.
Investigate with
the stick the exact surroundings of the grave, poke in the hard
surroundings, the unmoved earth.
-
Afterwards a ditch is dug of 2 shovels wide that is used as a
walking space and working space around the supposedly human remains.
Layer after layer the grave is uncovered. First by shovel, than by
hand shovel and finally by brush and finally by putty knife.
If point number d.
has been done and there can be said with some certainty that the human
remains are here, procedure g. should not be carried out. Report
your findings to the authorities so that they can start a trace evidence
search.
© LiSAR
