Electrical resistivity survey to search for a recent clandestine burial of a homicide victim, UK

• Published in: Forensic science international Vol. 202; no. 1; pp. e1 - e7
• Main Authors: Pringle, Jamie K, Jervis, John R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 10.10.2010; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Burial; Clandestine grave; Crime Victims; Criminal sentences; Data processing; Electric Impedance; Female; Forensic geoscience; Forensic Sciences; Funerals; Geodetic surveys; Geographic Information Systems; Geological Phenomena; Geophysics; Homicide; Humans; Metal detectors; Murders & murder attempts; Pathology; Remote sensing; Resistivity; Simulation; Soil; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; United Kingdom > UK; Forensic geoscience; Resistivity; Geophysics; Clandestine grave
• ISSN: 0379-0738; 1872-6283
• DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.04.023

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 (±3 Ω) 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.